Punk? Indie? Shoegaze? Alt Rock? Call it whatever you want, but there is absolutely no denying that Citizen’s new album is nothing short of brilliance.

Having seen every iteration of this band, the most impressive thing about them is their downright refusal to be put in a box. From a soul-draining and brutal album like ‘Youth’ all the way through to a beat-by-beat masterclass like Calling the Dogs’, every iteration of this band has moulded its own sound and feeling, and ‘Halcyon Blues’ is the latest shapeshift from the Michigan five-piece. ‘Halcyon Blues’ takes on a more liberated and softer sound that blends just about everything into one atmospheric package. It has the weight and the emotionally pummelling elements of the early albums with a vivacious injection of atmospheric sound blending and bright chords that see the band take another step forward in their unyielding creative engineering. The album has something for every fan past, present and future, with an amalgamation of different sounds. It’s both easy listening yet provokes emotion and punchy at times; this album can be experienced in a plethora of different ways, depending on your current mood and is definitely worth an endless amount of revisits, something the band have become greatly accustomed to throughout their tenure, but this album feels like it’s captured that mix of emotions perfectly.

The album's 11-track run holds a little piece of everything, and this is evident from the jump. The opener ‘Good Fortune’ starts off on an immediate vibrant snare roll and Ben Russin’s classic hardcore-style drumming, accompanied by an abundance of keys and guitar to create a breakneck opener. Citizen have perfected the art of putting bounce into their tracks, and while it’s littered all over this album, ‘Good Fortune’ will definitely be one of the first to come to mind when picking a track for an all-guns-blazing upbeat anthem. The energy dips and builds through the whole of side A, with tracks like the last single before the albums release ‘I Can See You From Here’ and ‘Is It In My Brain’ keeping those hi-hats rattling in elation under a blend of fast and vicious major chords, the latter of which is fused with effects and intricate sectioning that gives the song a more indie focused feel with a lot of airy and expansive notes in the chorus that burrow in your skull and refuse to leave for weeks. Tracks like the title track ‘Halcyon Blues’ and ‘Always the Last One to Leave’ strip it back to a more bare-bones, acoustic approach while still maintaining a rich, sensitive atmosphere. It’s very easy to tell when a song sounds inauthentic, but the raw emotion in the vocal performance and chord progressions makes this feel guttural and heartfelt. This slower sound feels connective and really makes it seem as if the band has hit a flow state; everything glides as it should while still portraying the grief and self-reflection of the lyrics without missing a beat.

Side B cuts straight back into one of their most brutal tracks in recent memory, ‘Matador’; this track was an easy favourite for me, it’s growling bass riff and anguished drum beats create a perfect headbanger, the softer vocal sound contrasts perfectly with the sheer aggression of the instrumentation, this track would fit in on nearly any Citizen album while still keeping its new age sound making it one of their most fluid and adaptive tracks to date, if this isn’t on the setlist I’m expecting a riot because ‘Matador’ seems to have been created for their high energy live shows. The compilation of influence really shines through in some of the B-side tracks and repeatedly surprises me upon every visit; the anticipation of what comes next is something that lends itself really well to this album as the ebb and flow of the pacing and energy allows all of the slow and elegant songs to really cut through the noise of the tracks that are definite future pit openers. ‘Smooth Talker’ and the leading single in this campaign, ‘Highs and Lows’, are brilliant examples of this new and infectiously dynamic sound as they throw the kitchen sink at the audience. It’s audacious and fun while still sounding grounded and aggressive; this tone has been built up through years of experimentation and sounds, and these two songs are Citizen at their best. Having spent a lot of time with ‘Highs and Lows’, it has planted its feet as one of the best releases of the year so far and was the perfect song to push the boat out and create an audience for this album, and hearing how well it has crossed over into their live sound will certainly solidify it as an energy booster in the middle of their set list. The album closes out on ‘Anne’, starting as a spirited acoustic ballad, and as the first verse continues, a swell of atmosphere begins to build behind the simplistic and consistent chord progression and cushioned vocals before building stage by stage into a mildly more complex variety of effects from a variety of instruments, with a truly awesome drum riff to carry the chorus. It acts as the perfect end to a brilliant new chapter in the band’s history of releases and leaves space for an immediate replay.

‘Halcyon Blues’ was an absolute pleasure to both intensely listen to and co-exist with; this is the most all-weather album to date from Citizen and paints a really exciting picture of what their future landscape may look like. I’m especially excited to see some of these tracks hit the stage when they tour this album, as lots of the songs will mould perfectly into their dynamic and dancey live shows. The depth of the content on this album is second to none and can be enjoyed over and over, so please spin this album till you can’t bear the dizziness, as it is bound to sit with you a little differently after every visit.

Words by Josh Pook

After the raving global reception of previous release TEKKNO, there were a number of avenues for German group Electric Callboy to contemplate exploring. Would they change things up a bit more? Would they take a break and savour the success a little longer? Instead, they chose to do the secret third option: to take TEKKNO and make it bigger, better and more badass than ever imagined. Enter TANZNEID.

With a title that literally translates in English as ‘dance envy’, it’s a given that this will be the band’s further exploration into binding the trademark metal sound with electronic and pop elements to make this either the funkiest dance record or the heaviest metal record they could possibly form. One of their first releases for the record was ‘RATATATA’, a collaborative effort with Japanese rock trio BABYMETAL, and as the second track following on from the title tune, it was always the first impression of this new and improved era. A wonderful up-and-down blend of bouncy pop sounds and shredding guitar riffs, it’s a rollercoaster from start to end. The juxtaposition of the lighter melodic vocals from BABYMETAL with the rough and tough gutturals from Electric Callboy gives this song an all-round feel of pleasing all audiences without pandering or mismatching qualities that would lead to a too-many-cooks situation. The levels are calm, and the amounts are just right; and this is only the beginning.

The record also features a collaboration with pop-punk longstays The Offspring, titled ‘Let The Good Times Roll’. Similarly with ‘RATATATA’, the balance is there and it works to bring each act’s strengths to the piece: the heavy-set electro beats expected on the album being influenced with the more traditional rock elements brought by the featured band.

Electric Callboy often gives praise to the bands that came before them in the alternative scene, and this is just one instance of these tributes. The title being based on The Offspring’s 2021 record Let the Bad Times Roll, and the lyrics including the utterance of “uno dos tres, quatro cinco cinco seis” - a line made famous in the world-famous hit ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’ - this is a love letter of sorts to the pop-punk past that paved the way for experimental acts and brand new sounds and styles. It’s all a chain reaction, and certain bands will bring the birth of others later on; Electric Callboy is that child who ran because their ancestors walked.

Closing the record with a mosh-worthy cover of Sum 41’s ‘Still Waiting’, the semi-anthemic retro earworm that is ‘The Savior’, and the atmospheric storytelling end track ‘Revery’, TANZNEID has achieved what it was aiming to. The hype, the power, the applied influences and inspirations, they have come together to respectfully continue where TEKKNO left off back in 2022.

“TANZNEID is built for the stage”, is a promise that was given by the dance-metal outfit, and it’s one that has been kept and then some. If this is what their future live appearances are looking to sound like, then here’s hoping the floorboards are nailed and the walls are reinforced, otherwise the roof is flying off and the sound is flooring the entire world and beyond.

Get those hearts racing, get the adrenaline pumping, and get on the dance floor. It’s time to inflict some TANZNEID upon civilisation.

Words by Jo Cosgrove

London punks Fat Dog bring wild energy on chaotic new single ‘Shit Love’.

With its incessant looping techno synth which only briefly abates in the middle of Fat Dog’s wonderfully chaotic three minute single ‘Shit Love’, the band channel the wild energy of the likes of Pendulum and dance techno pioneers The Prodigy.

Violently stirring up a bewildering barrage of blistering beats, the full throttle single evokes a maddening atmosphere of impending oblivion. As the band’s singer Joe Love quite colourfully summarises, their new single is “All stabbing, manic vocals and a beat that sounds like a rollercoaster trying to shake itself off the tracks”. The song describes two insane people in a relationship that argue incessantly, with its colourful insults and palpable anger.

Much like their recent single ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’, Fat Dog manage to delicately tread the line between utter insanity and off the wall creative genius, erratically flying from high speed pulsating beats to brief moments of calm to break-neck techno dance to stomp to, constantly making them irresistibly unpredictable.

In the running theme of insanity that pervades through much of their music, the opening verse: ‘It’s a nightmare, coming over me, Oh my God, send them back to the freak show, I’m drooling, you’re boring, Didn’t realise being a cunt was your calling’ showcases their uncanny ability to be both vulgar yet eloquently cutting in their brutally unapologetic and honest lyrics.

As well as pithy insults and catchy rhyming couplets, Fat Dog conjure superbly menacing imagery with lines such as ‘Now I’m howling, used to growling, Chase me round the house like a prime Jack Nicholson’. The single is sure to cause an eruption at their intimate instore shows to celebrate the launch of their new album ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’ in October, which will prime their cult following of fans perfectly for a landmark show for the band at the Brixton Academy that will culminate a hugely hyped major headline tour, including a much deserved and brilliantly billed major headline slot at Brighton’s Mutations festival, which will undoubtedly be a hedonistic highlight of the late summer festival season.

Far from being cancelled, the band have been heralded as the prestigious Radio 1’s Hottest Record of the Week to featuring on Radio X and Kerrang playlists, Fat Dog are rapidly becoming a fearsome force to be reckoned with, and they’re revelling in every chaotic second of it.

Words by Brendan Sharp

Truck Festival once again delivers with a jam-packed lineup featuring both legacy indie royalty and the best upcoming talent around.

Friday 24th July

The North felt like a true start of Truck (for those who missed out on CMAT’s Thursday opener), with palpable hype bouncing around the festival’s full second stage. They arrived to huge adoration from a notably up-for-it gen Z audience ready to propel a band of their own to stardom. Frontman Billy Memphis channels Pete Doherty-like vocals, pairing laidback, slurry musings with fervent bellows. Both he and the rest of the band wear their clothes as baggy as can be and their guitars hang below the waist. They are certainly one of the most hyped bands around at the minute.

My First Time came next on the same stage and carried on the energetic momentum, making them one of the surprise acts of the weekend. Their sound is harder with heavy bass and synths. Lead singer Isaac Stroud-Allen's vocals are enunciated and literal, calling out problematic personality archetypes whilst celebrating their own party lifestyles. Not even when he entered the mosh pit did his relentless vocals let up. 

At the smaller This Feeling stage curated by Radio X’s John Kennedy, Breeze, hailing from Hull and made up of three brothers, showcased their classic rock sound. You’d be forgiven for double taking at each member of the band, as they bear a striking familial resemblance. Recent single ‘No Other Woman’ is thumping and sexy and was a standout from their set. They ended their performance with a tasty mashup of Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind’ and Wheetus’ ‘Teenage Dirtbag’.

Getdown Services are a guaranteed good time and they delivered again. Their infectious dance tunes are laden with ridiculous pop culture references whilst their outrageous performances could double up as an alternative Magic Mike night. They are cementing themselves as UK festival essentials.

A British essential for decades, the legendary Primal Scream lit up the main stage in what could well have been a headlining set. Their funky tunes felt like a dance vortex to the 90s. Songs like ‘Loaded’ and ‘Movin’ On Up’ are Britpop institutions which feel like a real privilege to hear live. Bandmembers are well into their 60’s now but still dance along with the crowd and look thrilled to be on big stages again.

It was The Maccabees who rounded up Truck’s Friday. They aren’t headliners that inspire mosh pits, but their solid indie discography is peppered with countless quieter, slower, tender moments which are perfect to top off a tiring first day. Performances from their debut Colour It In have the same sound but are sung with the maturity of a band who has seen it all before. The acoustic ballad ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ was a highlight and inspired a loud, sweet singalong. 

Saturday 25th July

After Oxford’s own Symphony Orchestra opened up Truck’s main stage, Florence Road stripped things back to guitars. Having opened for them previously, they feel like a disciple of The Last Dinner Party, with a similar eye for captivating melodies, but trading the baroque for power pop. They’re young, cool and stylish and their closing song ‘Break The Girl’ is catchy enough to be an indie anthem in years to come.

Bleech 9:3 feel like Fontaines D.C. with their bright colours drained out in favour of an injection of grunge. Their sound is heavy, dirty and packs a punch. Their final song ‘Ceiling’ was met with one of the biggest reactions of the festival. They have all the trappings of a band who makes it big. 

From newcomers to old timers come The Vaccines, who are celebrating 15 years of their first album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?  The first half of their set was an almost full run-through of the album, now storied in indie rock folklore. Short, snappy tunes like ‘Wreckin’ Bar’ and ‘Norgaard’, as well as the anthem ‘If You Wanna’ showed the same energy they entered the music scene with over a decade ago. Whilst slower songs such as ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ and ‘Wetsuit’ displayed their development and maturity built up over those years, which they doubled down on with a second half which showcased their later and recent material.

Following on a stacked main stage came Kaiser Chiefs. Their big hits like ‘Ruby’, ‘Modern Way’ and ‘I Predict a Riot’ were equally distributed throughout the set keeping the energy high. They were rowdy and lively and their laddish bellows which interrupt a number of their early songs sounded just as rebellious as they did at time of release.

Over on the other side of the field during a slight clash were The Royston Club. Despite the conflict of interest for indie lovers, this looked like the most packed the Market Stage got all festival, and it was easy to see why. The Welsh band have built on the energetic indie tunes from their debut album with a set of emotional belters from their sophomore effort Songs From The Spine that inspire heartfelt and passionate singalongs. This set felt like their entrance as major players in the UK festival scene as they look sure to headline events such as Truck in the near future. 

But the headliners in the here and now were Two Door Cinema Club who proved this billing twice over. This headline slot felt massive. They have a seemingly infinite repertoire of groovy, danceable tunes with a sound totally unique to them. Whether you wanted to be right by the barrier, mosh amongst the crowd or laze at the back, energy and vibes were at a high. Lead Singer Alex Trimble let the crowd in on a wonderful story about playing at Truck festival for the first time 17 years ago, when they had just one single out, a delightful anecdote for any young, up and coming band to hear.

Sunday 26th July

After a field full of festival goers overcame their hangovers with a morning workout led by the one and only Mr Motivator, Scouse band Keyside brought their rocking indie to The Nest, an intimate stage designed for big sounds. They feel totally authentic and bring a heartfelt vibe alongside groovy guitars. Their self-titled debut album releases on 7 August 2026.

Truck Festival truly has everything, so if indie rock isn’t your thing, perhaps the funk-infused hip hop of Rizzle Kicks would interest you. Colourful visuals and loud trumpets were in full swing. They offered a performance you couldn’t find anywhere else at the festival.

The most controversial clash of the weekend occurred here, where crowds were forced to pick between two promising heavyweights, Leeds’ Keo and Manchester’s Westside Cowboy. We went for the latter, who justified our choice. The four piece, mix sweet, folky rock with periods of intense, rampant guitars. Singles ‘Don’t Throw Rocks’ and ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love’ are genuinely some of the best songs to come out of a band this size and absolutely hold up live. Whilst ‘Strange Taxidermy’ is the best musical representation of Truck’s tagline as a warped village fete, feeling like a jigged-up nursery rhyme. After the release of their debut album in late August, who knows where they could end up.

From one band featuring dual lead vocals to another, The Libertines headed up the main stage next. Their sound is unique and has become truly classic amongst UK rock fans - you know exactly what you are getting from them, and they delivered again. Earlier material pleased eager listeners, but their performance of newer material felt even more natural and is totally worthy of its own merit.

Circa Waves felt too big to be playing on Truck’s second stage, but they closed The Market Stage for another year in style. It was totally packed out and held a celebratory atmosphere. Their set was energetic and danceable, making them a wonderful act for a Sunday. ‘T-Shirt Weather’ must be one of the greatest songs to hear live at a summer festival.

A perfect Sunday headliner has a wide and deep discography and is popular, fun and totally earnest - all of which apply to The Wombats who soundtracked Truck’s grand finale.

The trio opened with ‘Moving To New York’ from their debut album, which warranted a huge reaction from an already captured crowd. Throughout the set, they weaved through their own eras and distributed songs fairly. More recent releases, especially from Oh! The Ocean are more laidback and pop-y which creates a well-crafted flow to the set with natural ebbs and flows. 

The festival ended with the band’s most popular and beloved song ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’. With the energy radiating from the band and the crowd alike, you’d have been forgiven for thinking it was back in 2007 where this song dominated dance floors and shot the band to stardom. 

Some bands mature their old hits with them, but The Wombats had lightning in a bottle here. They’ve masterfully been able to contain the sound and more importantly, the feeling of their old tracks. It was unadulterated excitement as a huge crowd of varying ages all felt like teenagers, as fireworks erupted marking a triumphant close to 2026’s Truck Festival. Crowds petered out for bed or further partying, eventually laying Hill Farm’s ground to rest for another year.

Words by Luca Jarman
Photography by James Kirkland

Australian indie-rock quartet DICE have just released of their second album ‘I Thought The Altitude Would Make It Worth The View’.

They recorded the new album at the legendary EastWest Studios in Los Angeles alongside Grammy-winning producer Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes, The White Stripes), and experimenting with abstract layering and punchy synths, the band brought in Jay Watson (POND, Tame Impala, GUM) to add his signature melodic depth and texture on keys. With a sound that aligns raw garage-rock energy and sophisticated pop-rock refinement, there is some real punch to their needling guitar twists and sticky vocal melodies.

For this album, DICE pivoted away from the grit of their debut album Midnight Zoo, toward a more expansive, blissful, lighter, euphoric world. The result is a 10-track album that is a windows down anthem for radical self-reflection and liberation, capturing a band finally flying at their own altitude.

They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.

Hey there DICE, how are you? So your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out
there?
It’s pretty surreal, we’ve been working on this record for over a year now so for it to be out in the world, it’s a nervous but awesome feeling.

It is called I Thought The Altitude Would Make It Worth The View what is the difference meaning behind that?
I’ve always struggled stick to one kind of script when explaining the album’s meaning however
I like to think of the record as a reminder when things don’t go your way that everything will be okay. A lot of these stories revolve around this theme and our message is that when life gets you down, it’s not the end of the world and sometimes it’s best to accept things and move on.

Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
The majority of the album was recorded in East West Studios in LA which was awesome. We were definitely a small fish in a big pond but with that came a lot of inspiration. We did meet Michael Buble in the studio next to ours which has now become a core memory in the world of DICE.

What are the key influences behind the album?
Our music has always been parallel to our personal stories so we were really driven to capture those experiences. Working with Joe Chiccarelli at East West Studios was also very influential in building each track from its core. We definitely pushed into a more experimental world.

If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
It’s funny because a part of my writing process does often include using films as a visual aid. I’d like to think Mr Beans Holiday is actually a pretty spot on film for the record. Our first single ‘Cooler’ was written with inspiration from the final scene of the film. It’s also about getting out of your comfort zone and enjoying the simple things.

Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
“I thought the altitude would make it worth the view” was always a highlight lyric for us, after all the title for the record came from the lyric. It’s got a certain beauty about its ambiguity. You don’t really know if it was worth the view but it leaves you to interpret it for yourself and acknowledge it’s about the journey.

Now the album is out there – what next for you?
Nothing is quite as motivational as going on tour for 3 months across the world so I’d safely say we’re gonna carry that on with a lot more writing but we’re gonna keep any dates under wraps for now.

Buffalo Traffic Jam’s long-awaited debut album finds beauty in vulnerability, weathered vocals and stories that feel lived rather than written.

After steadily building a devoted following through a string of heartfelt singles, lead singer Frankie Cassidy and multi-instrumentalist Nathan Ross have finally unveiled Pictures of You.

There is a lyrical honesty woven through every track of the new album, a quiet truthfulness that sees the pair lay themselves bare. Their willingness to write with such openness creates music that feels raw and unfiltered, while subtly reinforcing the idea that vulnerability is not a weakness and that it’s okay to talk openly about your emotions.

Blending fan favourites with a collection of brand-new material, the record feels like the culmination of the pair’s journey so far while firmly establishing their identity as songwriters. From the opening moments, the duo’s signature raspy vocals and heartfelt lyricism are front and centre, reminding listeners why their music has resonated from the very beginning.

The Bozeman duo remain unwavering in their commitment to unfiltered, deeply personal storytelling and throughout Pictures of You, they lean into vulnerability with songs that feel intimate and deeply lived-in, never shying away from difficult emotions.

One of the album’s standout moments arrives with track 13, Daydreaming. There’s an unmistakable roughness to the performance that makes it impossible to ignore, as though every lyric is being wrestled from the heart. The song unfolds less like a polished studio recording and more like a desperate plea, its emotional weight carried as much by what is left unsaid as by the words themselves.

Long-time fans will also be pleased to find familiar favourites including Fool’s Gold, Hanging on Hope and the title track Pictures of You, seamlessly woven alongside the album’s new material.

Despite the emotional depth that runs through Pictures of You, Buffalo Traffic Jam know exactly when to lift the tempo. Tracks like Buyin Dirt inject a welcome burst of energy, with the chorus opening up into an infectious, foot-tapping groove that feels impossible to resist. Afraid to Fall in Love Again follows a similar path, building patiently before bursting into life during its final minute - it’s the sort of song you can imagine echoing across a packed out venue.

The pair have previously revealed that they are inspired by artists Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan, The Districts and Punch Brothers - all talented lyricists who tell stories through the music they produce. Buffalo Traffic Jam have crafted a sound that feels timeless.

Throughout the record,  Buffalo Traffic Jam embrace the organic textures of folk music, creating a record that feels honest and deeply human. It’s this raw sincerity that gives Pictures of You its lasting impact, proving that authenticity remains the duo’s defining quality.

Words by Hollie Carr

Charli xcx trades the persona for the person on her most honest album yet.

Charli xcx has returned with the follow up to the cultural smash hit that was Brat, and in typical fashion she has switched the formula up completely. Music, Fashion, Film leans more rock and punk where Brat leaned more pop and electronic, and it feels more confessional, more personal and more unapologetically Charli xcx than anything that's come before it.

Across the record, Charli works through her new heightened level of fame, her friendships and her relationships with those around her, from her new husband to the way her fans perceive her. Brat often felt like a heightened, exaggerated version of her persona. Music, Fashion, Film feels like the opposite of that, a project that is entirely, unmistakably her, from the eyebrow raising lyrics to the sonic direction itself. She isn't playing it safe on the follow up, and it works out admirably.

‘Rock Music’ sets the tone almost like an ultimatum. It took a few listens to click, but the hook (a stretched and chopped vocal take on the word rock) is undeniable, and it immediately weeds out the fake from the real. Where Brat opened on the feel good rush of '360', this is about as far from a typical peppy pop opener as she's gone, and that's the point.

'SS26' slots in next and sounds far better in album context than it did as a standalone single. The hook is an earworm, and lyrically it's about as close to the album's title as a song could get, painting a commodified, fame soaked world that starts to define the record's whole emotional landscape. Then comes 'card declined', the first real gut punch of the project. It's an impenitent banger, easily one of the biggest songs here, with Charli reveling in the inauthenticity of retail therapy. Luxury purchases are just paper over the cracks, no amount of handbags, jewellery or sofas covering up the misery underneath. It's a message buried cleverly inside an anthemic, euphoric sound.

'camera' might be the best hook on the album, arguably one of the best of her career. It opens as poppy as this record gets, all glittering keys, almost sounding like a Brat leftover, before turning into something more vulnerable. Charli described the track as being about the tension between a performer and the lens pointed at them, tempting and exciting one moment, unbearably exposing and embarrassing the next. The refrain about how it makes her feel is hypnotic, repeated almost to the point of ad nauseam, and it won't be the last time that idea resurfaces. Despite how gorgeous the track sounds, the lyrics cut close, a woman who was famous for a decade before Brat now reckoning with a scrutiny that's only intensified since.

'2007' functions almost as an interlude here, a nostalgic indie throwback that sees her lean back into her old pop bag, again it feels like something that wandered in from the Brat era. It's a breather before the album's most poignant moment. 'I’m Afraid' is Charli at her most vulnerable, most honest, most real, a genuine ballad that slows everything down and lets her sit with her doubts. It’s an ode to her husband George Daniel, who Charli praises for being able to balance her identity, her insecurities, her fears about her own ability as a performer and as a person. The chorus is contemplative, Charliwrestling with who she is before the track collapses into a grungey guitar outro and cuts off abruptly.

From there, 'Yeah' bursts back into a driving, guitar led catharsis, all attitude before it explodes into pure joy, and 'Wink Wink' delivers another one of this album's many great hooks, its deadpan delivery quintessentially Charli. 'Persona' leans hardest into the rock influence yet, guitars that sound lifted from an old Oasis record and a chorus built to be shouted back at her live shows, carelessly gliding over its own venom.

'magic metal montana' softens things again, a love letter to her friend and longtime collaborator A. G. Cook, tender and specific in the way it lists out the small details of a real friendship rather than overselling it, her subdued delivery adding to the honesty of the whole thing. And honesty, more than anything else, is what this album has been building towards.

The album closes on 'no one lasts forever', featuring a spoken appearance from director David Cronenberg, the two of them turning the closing moments of the record towards mortality, fame and the fact that nothing, however big, sticks around forever. It's a fittingly weighty way to end her most profound project yet.

Going into this record, the question was always going to be how does she possibly top Brat. She's done it by making an album only Charli xcx could make; so true to herself that its greatness feels undeniable. Where Brat was a blazing commercial explosion, Music, Fashion, Film is something more encapsulating and enigmatic, proof that one of the brightest stars in modern music has no intention of dimming.

Words by Alex Peters

This week's Artist Of The Week is north Manchester-born, London-based artist Little Dog Star - who has just released her new EP 'Something Infinite' via Hunger/Polydor Records.

Little Dog Star is the project of Izzy Steele, whose music sits at the intersection of restless honesty and careful craft. Named after one of the smallest but brightest stars in the sky, the project began to take shape as Izzy made the move south from her hometown, a decision that also marked her exit from a nearly decade-long acting career that began in childhood and defined much of her teenage years.

Across its four tracks, Something Infinite is a confident step forward for an artist defining her own path. Named after one of the smallest but brightest stars in the sky, Little Dog Star is the project of Izzy Steele, a north Manchester-born, London-based artist whose music sits at the intersection of restless honesty and careful craft.

She took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.

Hey there, how are you? So your EP is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?
Hey! I’m doing great thanks. I love releasing music and I’m so happy it’s out. This EP feels like me right in this moment and I’m really proud of it.
It’s always funny sharing music that has felt private and unfinished on my phone for ages. I enjoy finally letting go and listening for the joy of it and like I’ve never heard it before.
It’s like showing someone a film you love and watching it with them as if you are them, you see it through a whole new lens.

It is called 'Something Infinite' – what is the meaning behind that?
It’s one of the song titles but felt like the right name. The song is about the frustration that comes with ambition and more personally, the transition between my job as an actor and where I am now. Lots of questions, not a lot of answers. Shame and embarrassment being turned into drive and something powerful within me. Ultimately naming the EP that, was acknowledging both those things - you can want the world but also go bright red admitting it.

Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
The ‘Something Infinite’ EP was recorded at MANTA’s studio in east London. And then he moved and we finished ‘put some miles on it’ and ‘who I was looking for’ in his new one. When we were writing & recording radio show it was actually round the corner to the real radio show I worked at earlier in the year that inspired the song - it was cool being back in the same area with a new purpose.

What are the key influences behind the EP?
At the time I was listening to Dominic Fikes new album ‘Rocket’ and ‘colour theory’ by Soccer Mommy. I used to write a lot on piano when I was younger so I wanted to that style back into the music, heavily inspired by Elton John. I remember making a conscious decision to do that after I wrote the piano part for the pre chorus on radio show.

Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
Lyrics are so much about how they are delivered so they never look as good written down! But I do lean towards the final words on the project, the end of ‘who I was looking for’ I say “It’s what it represents, I had everything but I didn’t feel it. Really felt the burn, now I’m in return, I can feel it” I don’t know there’s just something about it. It really encapsulates everything I’ve said in the EP. Seems to simplify what had felt like very complex things I’ve been exploring and writing about. I wrote that line on the train to the studio and put down one vocal take to show manta what I’d written and it was done, it just worked.

If the EP could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
If it was a film it would be Little Miss Sunshine.

Now the EP is out there – what next for you?
It’s a great question! I have so much more music to share and two headline shows coming up in September which is huge for me. I just want to keep going, I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had.

From Houston to heartbreak: Love Spells’ emotionally captivating debut.

There's a reason Love Spells called his debut album Love Is the Law. For Sir Taegen Harris, the 21-year-old Houston native behind the project, love isn't just a feeling, it's the thing his whole life seems to revolve around, for better and for worse. "Our lives revolve around love," he says. "We do so many things because of it and so many problems come out of it." Love Is the Law is proof of that, a record that sounds like it was fuelled entirely by a broken heart.

The backstory matters here. At 18, Harris was homeless in Houston, chasing a music career on pure ambition. He moved to California, lived with a friend he'd made online, and spent a summer commuting hours a day just to record at studios like Shangri La in Malibu, pouring his first heartbreak into 'lovers only'. Six months later he was back in Houston when Kevin Abstract called, inviting him to move in and work on Abstract's Blush. When that wrapped, Harris headed back to LA with a fresh start in mind, wanting an album that reflected how much he'd grown. He also wanted to dance. Growing up sneaking into Houston's Numbers club on a fake ID, he fell for 70s, 80s and New Wave records, and that instinct not to make "someone who only makes slow, sad music" runs underneath even the album's saddest moments.

That tension between heartbreak and momentum sets the tone from the very first track. 'don't touch' is a very chill opener, all country tinged acoustic guitar and an interestingly restrained vocal take, the calm before everything else unravels. 'crutch', one of the singles, follows with something more tender still, delicate vocals and dreamlike keys that lean fully into the intimacy of the lyrics, inspired by a friend Harris felt was leaning on him as an emotional crutch. 'keep it to yourself' turns that intimacy protective, the lyrics drenched in insecurity, "i don't want anyone to question us" capturing that burning desire to be alone together, the swamp like guitar meandering through a river of pain.

'kiss me slow this time' slows things down further, nostalgic strings and the best hook on the album so far, before 'stupid' arrives as the clear highlight, with a The Marías like softness that explodes into something grander, electric guitar crashing against the drums in a way that finally lets the album's narrative breathe. From there the despair deepens. 'love is the law' leans on a grungey guitar line as Harris' soft vocals tell a story of desperate despair, "don't go breaking my heart" landing as sad as it is relatable. 

‘perfect man' brings a little more pep to the drums and a touch of optimism to the instrumental, even as the confessional, heartbroken lyrics carry on regardless. 'devour me' strips everything back to a minimalist guitar that only ever so slightly ramps up, the chorus sounding like it's coming from a void of despair, the sentiments given room to properly land and resonate.

'i've tried' is the most cinematic moment on the record, a lush orchestral opening giving way to another meditation on lost love, Harris sounding utterly defeated, another male vocalist trading lines with him to flesh out the emotion before a closing sax line ties it off beautifully. 'until we get it right' might be the most profound cut yet, piano and risers building a genuinely sombre atmosphere around the line "you can leave but you won't go far", the whole thing feeling like being lost in a daydream. It's a fitting lead in to closer 'maybe i still love you', a smooth, confessional send off that could sum up the entire project: the uncertainty of love, never quite knowing if you've truly let go, moments of calm colliding with moments of chaos.

Words by Alex Peters

Shania Twain finds the girl who never got the memo that genres exist. 

Little Miss Twain isn't a comeback record so much as an origin story, and like all good origin stories, it starts with someone else's belief arriving before the proof does. The title track is where that belief lives, Twain singing about her mother's conviction that stardom was coming with a rawness that goes well past nostalgia, and having Tanya Tucker actually there to duet turns a childhood fantasy into something almost uncomfortably real. Everything else on the record plays out in that song's shadow, a life spent trying to earn a faith someone else had in her before she had it in herself. 

From there, the album drifts into the escapism of youth, the version of Twain who hadn't yet had to prove anything. "Stranger Things" opens on a hush so tightly matched to its lyric it stops feeling like performance and starts feeling like memory, that specific disbelief of watching someone become the person you didn't see coming. "New Love" is pure first-crush euphoria, giddy enough to make Olivia Rodrigo's teenage diary entries look positively guarded by comparison, while "Faded Blue Jeans" earns its keep on production alone, slow and tender until the drums kick in right on cue, mirroring memory tipping over into full nostalgia. 

But belief that big always leaves a bruise somewhere, and by the album's middle stretch, that bruise finally gets pressed. "Right Time" is the cleverest sleight of hand here, bright, breezy production sitting

directly on top of hard-won heartbreak, more Kacey Musgraves-does-a-beach-holiday than ballad, refusing to let its own sadness slow it down. "Scary Little Thing" is sharper still, all bar-light tension and the exact second before you know you're about to make the same mistake twice, closer to Amy Winehouse's knowing self-sabotage than anything else here, and "I'd Be Loving Me" turns fully confrontational, one unanswered question aimed at someone who's let her down more than once. 

By the album's back half, the bruise starts to fade into something calmer. "Down the Middle" recovers fast with real, startled joy, "Take It to the River" slows into aching reconciliation, and even the record's more scenic detours, "That's the Money," "Rock Stars", read less like filler and more like someone finally allowed to just enjoy a view without needing it to mean anything. The four bonus cuts close things out quickly: old anger let go, quiet dread, lighter footwork, reckless momentum, less an afterthought than a soft landing. 

By the time the record ends, it's earned its own thesis. Little Miss Twain isn't Twain's tightest album, the reach for nostalgia occasionally outpaces the writing behind it, but it's the one where the little girl in the bar and the woman singing about her finally meet in the same song. Thirty years into being larger than life, that's the trade worth making. 

Words by Dhriti Duggal

Exploring Birdsong have just released the debut full length album 'Every House We Built' via Long Branch Records.

The band step into their most vulnerable and personal chapter yet. Known for intricate arrangements and cinematic soundscapes, the band trade conceptual storytelling for something far more intimate, an unflinching exploration of human connection in all its forms.

At its core, Every House We Built is an album about relationships, friendships, family ties and romance. For the first time, the band draw directly from lived experience, using the metaphor of houses to frame the fragile and evolving nature of these bonds. Like the structures they evoke, relationships take time, care and intention to build but can collapse in an instant, leaving behind echoes of what once felt permanent.

This thematic thread quietly binds the record together. References to homes, spaces and foundations recur throughout, giving the album a sense of continuity and emotional architecture. What began as a single lyrical phrase in the title track gradually expanded into the album’s defining concept, one that reflects both the beauty and impermanence of connection.

They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.

Hey there Exploring Birdsong, how are you? So, your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?
Lyns : It feels surreal! We have spent so many years with these songs now (about 4 years in some cases) so it is very cool getting to see people enjoying their time with it now that it’s finally out there. There have been some really insightful comments and conclusions that our listeners have come to when listening to this music. I’d argue that it’s the aspect of releasing music that matters the most- we make what we want to hear, but ultimately it is people connecting with it in a meaningful way that is so rewarding. 

It is called 'Every House We Built' – what is the meaning behind that?
Lyns : When Matt had brought the track ‘Every House We Built’ to Jonny and I, it was clear by that point that each of us had referenced homes and houses in our writing too, so before hearing the track it was more of an interesting coincidence. None of us had really intended on committing to houses as a larger theme for the record at that time. However, by the time we had completed the record, it just felt like it was always meant to be the album title. Homes are a great metaphor for relationships because they take plenty of investing in to make the best of, while on the other hand, neglect and emptiness can quite quickly snatch the magic from what was once a safe and loving space. This seemed to quite neatly get across the messaging of the album. 

Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
Lyns : Our studio time was spent with Lucas Fletcher at Shell City Studios in Blackpool. We were having beautiful weather at the time, so I remember walking there in the sunshine to join Matt and Jonny a couple of days after they had already arrived. Matt and Jonny tell a fun story about the cowbell you can hear on ‘I_You’, with its life basically beginning as a bit of a hear-me-out. I think it took a moment for Jonny and Lucas to see the vision, but apparently there was plenty of leaping around in the control room once they had heard the cowbell in situ. Similarly during the mixing process, we kept asking Connor (Sweeney) to keep on pushing that cowbell higher and higher in the mix. The song wouldn’t be the same without it!

What are the key influences behind the album?
Lyns : There are so many influences present on ‘Every House We Built’ that we could easily be here forever listing them, as they all feel just as important as each other. I would say ‘So’, (Peter Gabriel) ‘Hounds of Love’, (Kate Bush) Destrier, (Agent Fresco) Hypochondriac, (Brakence) Home, Like NoPlace Is There, (The Hotelier) were all important waypoints for this record.

If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
Lyns : Great question! While it’s not strictly a perfect fit, I think an argument could be made for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Our album moves through recollections of similarly very high highs (I_You, Meadowlands) and heartbreaking lows (Every House We Built, Cartography). Our songs are born from real life scenarios that took place at varying distances in our pasts, which I think makes sense in a movie so centred around meaningful memories, and how equally joyful or painful they can be to revisit.  

Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
Lyns : I’m going to commit to a real cop out of an answer here- but I think my honest answer is Footprints in its entirety. Jonny wrote these lyrics with such honesty after what has been a lifetime of reflecting on grief and the lasting impact that loss has had, and will always have on his life. I really don’t know if I could find the strength to write a song like this, let alone find the perfect words to accompany it. I really am immensely proud that he shared it with Matt and I, and that Jonny trusted us to work on it with him and make it a real high point for Exploring Birdsong. 

Now the album is out there – what next for you?
Lyns : It would be so easy to do what we have done for the most part of our career, which is to keep moving down the to-do list rather than stop to take stock of what is happening around us. We really want to savour the moment- you can only release your debut album once! It has blown us away that so many people have resonated with the album already, and have shared with us how and why they have connected with it so deeply. We have truly loved making this music and the whole process of putting the album together, despite the hiccups we’ve encountered trying to get it out there. Having said all that though, we can’t wait to bring ‘Every House We Built’ to UK audiences in September!

Mad Cool stepped it up for its 10th Anniversary resulting in an unforgettable weekend in Madrid.

Mad Cool turned ten this July, and it celebrated by throwing one of its most eclectic, hottest editions yet at its Iberdrola Venue in Villaverde, Madrid. Four days, five stages, more than 200,000 people through the gates, and a lineup so diverse that no two festival goers seemed to have watched the same show.

For its anniversary edition, the organisers leaned hard into range rather than a single big theme: legacy rock names like Foo Fighters, David Byrne, Pulp and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds shared bills with pop's current reigning names such as Lorde, Zara Larsson, Frost Children and many more, and somehow the whole thing held together across four very different days.

Wednesday belonged to the guitars, and Wolf Alice made sure everyone remembered it. Ellie Rowsell gave everything she had under almost 40 degrees, throwing herself into the crowd's energy rather than fighting the heat. By the time "Play the Greatest Hits" tore through the main stage, half the crowd had already forgotten they were melting. Other acts such as The Last Dinner Party and Foo Fighters made the first day of the edition one for the books.

Thursday flipped the script entirely, turning into a parade of pop powerhouses. CMAT opened the afternoon delivering the funnest set of the whole festival, mock-fainting, wiping sweat with a towel, joking about dying of heatstroke before launching into "Jamie Oliver Petrol Station" like nothing could touch her. Zara Larsson threw a full pink-fantasy stage show, glitter and choreography included, and a crowd that occasionally outsung her on "Lush Life”, “Midnight Sun” and “Stateside”. Jennie brought K-pop's high grade production values to the festival for the first time, with fans camping out hours early just to catch "Like JENNIE" live.

But Thursday night really belonged to two towering, very different divas. Lorde, making her long-overdue Madrid debut, with a genius festival set including reworked “Virgin style” classics such as "Royals" and “Buzzcut Season”. "Supercut" and "Green Light" turned into mass singalongs, and during "David" a huge banner reading "I don't belong to anyone" sailed over the crowd, which more or less summed up her whole performance which was fiercely on her own terms. Then Florence Welch closed it all out with something closer to a séance than a concert, flowing black silk, dancers in white circling her like an offering, "Shake It Out" and "Dog Days Are Over" detonating one after another until the whole field was airborne.

Friday tried to be the comedown day, and Halsey made sure it wasn't. Opening the main stage absurdly early, she still managed to needle the crowd into shape, joking that there was no excuse to hold back since the Spain match hadn't even kicked off yet. That line turned out to be prophetic: Spain's clash with Belgium ended up dominating a good chunk of the evening, phones out everywhere on the big screens around the grounds, denting the crowd's focus even during Pixies, who nonetheless ploughed through a lean, unbothered set as if the World Cup weren't happening at the same time. The moment the final whistle blew, word spread across the site before it even reached the screens, and by the time Kings of Leon took the stage, "SPAIN HAS WON" was flashing behind them, briefly upstaging Caleb Followill mid-song. It didn't matter for long: Twenty One Pilots closed the night with an unhinged, genuinely bizarre spectacle in which a masked Tyler Joseph climbed a scaffolding, Josh Dun scaling a sound tower to play a full drum solo mid-set, and the duo singing classics like “Believe” by Cher and “Seven Nation Army”, along with all their usual hits.

Saturday was the send-off, and it saved its strangest, most graceful moment for last. After Nick Cave delivered a career-spanning, almost evangelical headline set, David Byrne took the stage on the festival's final night in matching orange jumpsuits with his full band of dancer-musicians, running through Talking Heads classics alongside solo material with the kind of sharp, joyful choreography that felt more like theatre than a rock show, no drum kit in sight, just bodies constantly in motion. It was the perfect closing statement for a festival that spent four days proving genre barely matters anymore with rock veterans, K-pop royalty, pop divas and art-punk elder statesmen, all sharing the same stages in Madrid.

Ten editions in, Mad Cool still can't quite decide what kind of festival it wants to be, and that is precisely the point. Ask five different attendees for their highlight and you'd get five different answers spanning half a dozen genres, three continents and at least one football score. Nobody who was there this July left agreeing on which night was the best one, which, for a festival this size, might be the highest compliment there is.

Words by Marcos Sanoja

Waterparks are a band that are keeping the scene as alive and vibrant as it is right now, while still flying under the radar for many alternative music fans. Hitting their greatest heights with previous records Entertainment and FANDOM, they have only become stronger and stranger in their production, their songwriting, and in terms of frontman Awsten Knight, their physical appearance. With a greater sound than ever before, incorporating pop music tropes in their teenage-angst-adjacent rock style, it’s time to introduce the latest letter in the band’s alphabet with JINX.

Following from the release of fan-favourite full-length INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, this was a project born in the ashes of the repeatedly made and destroyed work by the three-piece. With highs and lows coming and going, eventually everything fell in place and the release of lead single ‘RED GUITAR’ gave the world a taste of what was to come. ‘RED GUITAR’ has the Waterparks guarantee of being a twist and turn on pop-rock music, mixing in some rap-style vocals from Knight and strong guitar riffs that give that edge to an otherwise smooth, round, safe song. As an introduction to the era, it works to open up for what the Texan self-proclaimed boyband will be bringing to the table: down-to-earth lyrics, a mix of rhythms for talking lines and singing scripts, and giving their fans something no other band is giving them. It’s up to said fans if this is a gift or a curse, but at least it’s new, it’s fresh, and it’s abstract as ever.

The duo of ‘PROWLER’ and ‘BETTER THAN THERAPY’ work as dynamic duo in the record. Giving an audible contract of the sound they are trying and the sound they have established, it is something for the listeners old and new. Something for those who preferred the standard pop-punk stylings that have carried the group throughout their career, and the new ever-evolving blend of styles, trends and traits that is keeping them thriving in this industry. It’s a greater view of Waterparks’ versatility as an entity in music; a fuller picture, if one will.

This fuller picture is what gives a complete rundown of a band, their influences, their process, and what makes them attractive to a fan base in the first place. Waterparks, who have garnered a sizeable fan following around the world since their rise in the 2010s, always encourage their fans to view the fuller picture of their art and do not wish to hide or deceive or become misinterpreted. They just want to put their truth to music; thoughts, emotions, experiences and beliefs. This is why their non-album single ‘ICE’ was highly praised from their regular listeners: something real and raw, meaningful and not a part of gaining false sympathy or support. This record is not album pleasing the crowd, but pleasing themselves and hoping the crowd is pleased is a bonus.

JINX is the sixth full-length record from the American trio, and their tenure has given them the licence to be real, to be true, and to be as serious as they can be silly. It's at the point where they feel so self-assured in what they’re bringing into the world and making a change for the good.

There is magic in that new record, and it’s a blessing in a black-and-pink colourful disguise.

Words by Jo Cosgrove

This week's Band of the Week is London art-rock four-piece Cherry i - who have just released their new EP 'Yes, but I could never tell that lie' - which was produced by Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Yard Act, Soccer Mommy).

Formed in 2025 by two now best friends who moved to the UK together due to the conflict in their Ukrainian homeland, despite only having met a handful of times, Cherry i have since gone on to release two well-received singles, racking up north of 100K streams, whilst building a feverous word-of-mouth buzz playing across the London DIY Windmill scene.

They took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.

Hey there, how are you? So your EP is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?.
Nerve wracking. I still can’t shake the protective feeling I have over music once it come out, maybe being able to let go comes with time, but for now it feels a little like asking someone you like on a date, except you’re asking everyone.  

It is called 'Yes, but I could never tell that lie' – what is the meaning behind that?
The title comes from me thinking about lying to myself as a coping mechanism for getting through difficult situations in life. I think that most people, if they lie, it’s more often than not to themselves. Every song on the EP slightly touches on morals and lines one would or wouldn’t be willing to cross. Lies one would or wouldn’t be willing to tell. I was thinking of a particular lie I couldn’t keep telling myself and came up with the title. 

Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
All the tracks were recorded in Bristol with Ali Chant. We did it in two trips. One of the best experiences of my life so far. Both Ali and Niklas who was the sound engineer helped make the songs so much better and I’m really thankful to them for it.  

What are the key influences behind the EP?
Pain. Cue world's tiniest violin. In terms of musical influences I don’t know that anything specific influences the sound. We like Kim Gordon a lot, Fontaines DC and The Books. Gigging around London really helped shape the final sound of some of the songs. 

If the EP could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
I would want it to soundtrack Mulholland Drive by David Lynch. It’s one of our favourite movies so maybe there is a bias there but we also think it would be a good fit. There’s a constant tension and confusion there that we think a song like Mistake or The Arsonist would work well for. 

Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
My favourite lyric on the EP is “god freed the arsonist, told him that he could buy another day, off the streets off the silver screen, in poetry he’s moving” This whole section is kind of about my relationship to art and media. I think I need it so badly because I’m trying to extinguish some very painful experiences for myself with it, despite it also being a reminder of those experiences. That’s the best way I can explain it

Now the EP is out there – what next for you?
A gig at Shacklewell Arms in London on the 26th of July! Then a gig at The Greyhound on the 5th of August Yay! We are also in the process of finishing our next EP. Double Yay!

After almost a decade away, Breaking Benjamin’s UK return was long overdue. Bringing with them Chevelle and Return To Dust, their final night of their European tour was a hot, sticky, glorious mess. 

Back in 2017, Breaking Benjamin sub-headlined Reading & Leeds’ Lock Up Stage and squeezed in a warm-up show at the O2 Forum Kentish Town. Before that, a duo of shows in 2016, which marked their first ever shows outside of North America… but that’s it. Nine years is a hell of a lot of time for fans to wait, as could be seen by the plethora of dates with upgraded venues on their tour. And now, almost nine years later, they finally rolled back into London. 

California newcomers Return To Dust had the unenviable task of opening for them, likely particularly tricky an irritable, sweaty, slowly-filling crowd. With plenty of fans still filtering in after initial queues stretched around the building, the quartet leaned into their distinctly ‘90s grunge sound — weirdly perfect given the rest of the line-up, both of whom formed in the ‘90s themselves. 

Dual vocalists Matty Bielawski and Graham Stanush complemented each other brilliantly, Bielawski’s soaring rasp hovering over Stanush’s darker, more melancholic delivery on tracks like ‘Abyss’ and ‘Bored’, all while the living lightning bolt of Sebastian Gonzalez blurred about the stage, likely causing at least a few photographers to curse his name. 

There was little time for chatter, the band instead packing as much music as possible into their half-hour slot. Their cover of OutKast’s ‘Hey Ya!’ was an unexpected highlight, transforming the hip-hop classic into a wall of distorted guitars, before ‘Belly Up’ finally got the crowd bouncing… although the band may have had to restart the song from the pitiful participation, the non air-conditioned room making recalcitrant fans want to cling stubbornly onto their energy.

A fantastic end to their first official UK tour, barring their own headline show at Camden’s iconic barfly the next night, though hopefully they won’t wait as long as their tour partners to come back. 

As much as Breaking Benjamin’s absence feels awful, it’s somehow now the worst on their tour — that honour instead lies with Illinois’ own Chevelle, with the tour marking their first UK appearance since 2014. An ocean of nodding heads greeted opener ‘An Island’, the band living up to the name in their oasis of rock on the still heavily partitioned stage and ‘Family System’ simmered from haunting chants into full-blown, intensely vitriolic rage; meanwhile, ‘Self Destructor’ — one of only two tracks on the set taken from any of the three albums they’ve released since last playing the UK — exploded beneath frantic strobes and the ever-so-slightly shoegaze ‘Send the Pain Below’ happily creaked by.

‘The Red’ though, unsurprisingly, saw the crowd come fully online. Opening the song alone, Pete stood, bereft of anything but his trusty guitar and the beam of a spotlight, and got all 5,000 fans present passionately roaring along. Add in brother Sam Loeffler on drums and bassist Kemble Walters, crashing in for the second chorus, and the venue reached a comfortable boiling point before erupting. ‘Comfortable Liar’ showcased the dynamism of Chevelle, Pete’s near-whispered vocals if inviting the packed room into a shared sense of intimacy, of betrayal, before a sudden, inexorable scream wrenched itself free from his throat; the final ‘Mars Simula’, then, felt a little anticlimactic — although no one there minded the track’s Korn-like menace, as it just meant another five minutes of Chevelle. 

As the trio left the stage, drumsticks and picks flew into the crowd, the band flitting between smiling and smirking as they enjoyed their well-deserved applause — eventually ending up with Pete tossing his water bottle in there for good measure. 

A quick interlude of karaoke — ‘Break Stuff’ probably claimed the loudest singalong of the night, though ‘Last Resort’ and ‘Chop Suey!’ — left spirits as buoyant and high as you could ask for. Well, for the most part anyway; security distributing endless cups of water and likely dragging attendees out of the throes of heatstroke, or even accessibility customers reportedly having to outright leave the venue because of the temperature, isn’t ideal at any venue, let alone one that went through refurbishments and reforms recently for crowd control and endangerment. You’d think air conditioning might have been one of them, but you’d sadly be mistaken.

Though all of that went out the metaphorical — and probably still closed — window the moment Breaking Benjamin finally emerged; although, given the expansive light bar set up, the Benjamin Burnleys (with the frontman joined by his son!) remained curiously shrouded in darkness throughout the show. It didn’t impact anything too much, especially as they broke into opener and fan favourite ‘I Will Not Bow’, just a strange decision to have a lighting dead spot centre stage. 

Normally you’d talk about how some songs had a big reaction, this or that causing a venue-wide sing along, but that just became normalcy for their 80~ minute set. ‘Until The End’ was deafeningly loud, the red-and-white lighting bars accidentally resembling St George’s Crosses as if inadvertently supported the just-knocked-out national team — or maybe that’s just a projection on my part? — while ‘Red Cold River’ saw blinding streaks of unsurprisingly

blood red lighting and ‘Crawl’ saw some of Aaron Bruch’s signature unclean roars pierce the heat-filled miasma of the venue, all while sickly green lighting crept across the stage and moshing, meltingly sweaty lesions opened up in the band’s adoring crowd. ‘Blow Me Away’ inevitably drew one hell of a reaction, even without a Master Chief appearance  — though commuting from Eridanus II every night is probably expensive, even for a Spartan — with crowdsurfers slipping and sliding themselves to the water-toting security, while the proggy, Tool-esque instrumentals of ‘So Cold’ seemed to sneer at the gasping warmth of the venue; even Ben jr. got some time in the proverbial, still-not-existant spotlight to share vocal duties in ‘Polyamorous’, any nerves at this point of the tour practically non-existent… beyond a slight trembling in the legs, anyway. The more emotional duo of ‘Breath’ and ‘Dear Agony’ went hand-in-hand with the heavier duo of newcomers ‘Something Wicked’ and ‘Awaken’, while the outpouring of euphoric London love for ‘Dance With The Devil’ is always a delight to experience. 

“This whole tour has been surreal, and we couldn’t think of a better way to end it than here in London”, Benjamin imparted to the crowd, moved by the sweat-soaked adoration, and hopefully it might have planted a kernel of ‘maybe let’s not wait another nine years to come back’ in the band’s collective consciousness. Though, as the iconic opening notes of ‘The Diary of Jane’ washed through the venue, giving everyone one last chance to make up for nine years of lost time, the band nearly drowned out by the screamed zeal of 5,000 elder emos and newcomers alike, you’ve got to agree with the old idiom. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Just not too much next time, eh?

Words by James O’Sullivan

Nia Archives finds the drums of a broken heart.

Nia Archives has always been about the drums first. But on Emotional Jungalist, it's the story wrapped around them that lingers. The title says it all really: this is a record that traces the entire arc of a relationship, from the first spark of hope to the darkest hour after it ends, and it might be her most emotionally mature body of work yet.

Where Silence Is Loud announced her as one of the most vital voices in jungle, Emotional Jungalistfeels like the next chapter, one that trades some of that record's urgency for something more vulnerable. There's an almost Amy Winehouse-like inflection creeping into her vocal takes now, a rawness that wasn't as present before. The theme here (hopeful love unravelling into a dismal break up) echoes Olivia Rodrgio’s recent record, but where Olivia sits in the melancholy, Nia injects it with pure energy, and that's the tension that drives the whole album.

That energy is obvious from the first second. 'feelingz go numb' opens with a euphoric, cinematic explosion, the refrain "what have i done" circling the track like a bad memory you can't shake. Jungle drums hit as hard as anything she's made, juxtaposed against strings and risers that build then collapse into calm, it might just top the Silence Is Loud intro. From there we're launched straight into 'around the bend', a wicked, swirling guitar line and rampant drums giving the whole thing a spaghetti western feel, Nia's vocals pushed centre stage for the first time. Even this early, you can feel a relationship starting to take shape.

The two pre-album singles slot neatly into that same early rush. 'danger' has grown steadily, its transcendent, almost childlike hook riding over classic Nia Archives drums like a jungle nursery rhyme, all that giddy, blinkered feeling of falling for someone. 'vertical' is spacier and more deliberate, and the bridge is one of the most captivating moments on the whole project. It acts as a voice of reason poking through the clouds of chaos, the first hint that this love story won't stay simple.

That hint blossoms into full daydream territory on 'this could be…', all wishful thinking and a Lily Allen esque-feel to it, the kind of track you dance around to while getting ready for a date. Speaking of dancing, 'dance with me 2nite' keeps that intimacy going, a more gentle and textured cut, before 'get me down' brings in Jorja Smith for a collaboration that felt long overdue. Her gracefulness against Nia's frenetic production shouldn't work as well as it does, and the closing harmonies have a haunting, stumbled upon quality, like the relationship has reached its most tender peak, right before things start to turn.

And turn they do. 'train of thought' is the strangest and most special moment on the album, that high pitched, anime intro-esque feel pulling you into pure ambience. "please forget me not" cuts deep through all the noise, and there's a genuinely supernatural feel to the track, like the first crack of doubt creeping in. 'superlust' pulls things back into her pop bag, delicate keys and one of her best vocal moments in "and we touchhhh," a last grasp at the closeness from earlier in the album before it slips away for good.

From here, the record tips into breakdown. 'there goes ma head', a track previewed at Parklife and every bit as good in full, is relentless, the drums impossible to avoid, the chanting the finishing touch, and it plays like the exact moment you hit breaking point. A pure cathartic release. 'almost always' pushes further into the regret that follows, maybe her most emotionally captivating vocal on the record, feeling almost like a continuation of the Jorja Smith moment, except now the tenderness has curdled into something more painful.

Sampha's feature on 'tender' is the standout guest turn of the project. His voice lends an honesty and vulnerability that gives Nia room to just observe herself and what she wants, "always wanted a love so tender" hitting somewhere real, a moment of quiet reflection before the album's low point.

That low point arrives on 'darkest hour', the emotional centre of Emotional Jungalist and a track that could only exist in the absence of love. The drums slow right down, the doubts and what-ifs pile up, and it's the clearest evidence yet of an emotional maturity we haven't heard from her before. 'lovers grief' brings back a jazz feel for the penultimate track, all careless denial, "i gotta pretend like im okay with being alone", before the chorus finally lets the pent up emotion out.

Then, right at the end, the release. 'boys in blue', another previously released single, closes the project on a celebratory note. Furious guitar and relentless drums soundtracking an emotional rollercoaster of an album. It's the natural endpoint of everything that's come before: the euphoria, the tenderness, the heartbreak, all of it resolving into something that finally feels like freedom.

Emotional Jungalist is Nia Archives at her most complete. Taking the risk of leaning into being an artist first and a DJ second has paid off, and this record, in all its highs and lows, proves she's still one of the leading female artists of her generation.

Words by Alex Peters

After over a decade of records, tours, festival appearances and everything else a band can dream of, Brighton band As It Is are showing no sign of stopping now. Coming off the tenth anniversary celebrations of their debut record Never Happy, Ever After, the group are showing that there is still music to make, feelings to feel, and a lot more of themselves to offer. Enter their brand new self-titled release As It Is.

Coming together as a four-piece for the first time in many years, As It Is captured what made them a pop-rock phenomenon in the first place with this new record. Starting off is the high-energy track ‘I’m So Alive’; a piece that feels straight out of a random pocket of the band’s back catalogue. It’s that catchy riff carrying the song, along with frontman Patty Walters belting out the lyrics with the help of a chorus of additional voices as the track reaches its climax.

To open with something so big, so bouncy, so positive; it would make one wonder if this is truly As It Is, if it wasn’t for that trademark pop-punk style that solidifies it. A sound that the group have refined into their own throughout their rise in the 2010s and now know better than most others in their generation. It’s a sound that is ‘very As It Is’, one may say. It doesn’t get any better than that for the group.

One of the standout tracks of the self-titled record is ‘Live, Laugh, Love, Los Angeles’. An anthem about the downfalls of the United States of America, inspired musically by classic Americana rock acts and lyrically about the trials and troubles of the everyday US citizen. Mentioning the high costs of healthcare, gun crime fatalities, and the politicising of religion to create a false sense of safety, it is a too true story for Americans such as vocalist Walters.

It is a different take from the usual As It Is track but it is just as necessary to release. The band chose to release ‘Live, Laugh, Love, Los Angeles’ as a single due to the political climate across the pond at this moment and not wanting to be silent about any of it. As a band who made their brand expressing pain and fear with no holding back, à la 2018’s The Great Depression, this shows not only they are attuned with their emotions but they are attuned to the world around them outside of the industry. At a time when people say musicians should stick to their music rather than infiltrate politics, the more bands who are holding a mirror up to these atrocities the better it will be in the long run. And that does include this little pop-rock quartet based in an English coastal city.

‘Lose Your Way & Find Yourself’ is a track about self-improvement and being proud of personal progress both made alone and made with the help of friends. ‘If I Ever Lost You’ is a call to help, rather than a call for help, when seeing someone struggle with life and being willing to give them everything to survive. ‘What If It All Works Out’ closes the record with a half-hopeful track exploring taking chances and enjoying the little things when the world is on fire to try and make good out of the bad. These are topics that As It Is know well, and know how to word in a way that resonates with their core audience and beyond, in a reach even they can’t imagine. The hopeless-hopeful clashes that they know too well; the wanting to be okay while knowing it takes time, hard work, good efforts; the believing in a world that is against everyone and believing in change that cannot be seen at this moment. That is As It Is.

As It Is is a perfect title for this new release, as every track is a perfect artistic example of what the band brings to the forefront time and time again. Revelling as both the stereotypical “emo” band and going that little bit deeper than the usual names that float around in the industry. It’s not just feeling sad: it’s feeling joy, love, defeat, fear, pain, and much more.

Simply put: As It Is really is just As It Is.

Words by Jo Cosgrove

The local legend brings his euphoric brand of dance music back to his old stomping ground: the inimitable Brighton beach. 

Out of all the famous people who call Brighton and Hove home -and there’s a few, including rocker Nick Cave, comedian Maise Adam, and eccentric ex-boxer Chris Eubank - iconic DJ Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, is perhaps the most synonymous with the seaside city. Having moved to the vibrant Sussex enclave in the 80s to attend university, the man who would help define late 90s & early 00s rave culture has enjoyed a longstanding love affair with the city ever since, culminating in the record-breaking Big Beach Boutique II, which saw around 250,000 people descend on the pebbles for the biggest outdoor party in UK history. 

Since then, Fatboy Slim has hosted numerous sequels, if you will, leading all the way up to today’s first of 4 nights on the beach. Dubbed Big Beach Boutique 7, the stretch also acts as an opening salvo for Brighton’s annual On The Beach festival series, which has seen the likes of The Libertines, Chase & Status, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Underworld grace the East Sussex shores. 

Bolstered by an extensive supporting lineup of DJs and producers including Seth Troxler, Derrick Carter and Fish56Octagon, it’s a proper all-dayer, though of course, Norman is the main event. He appears on stage just after 8pm, with the searing sun still blazing down over a sea of floral shirts, handheld fans, and bucket hats. As ever, Cook is dressed in one of his signature Hawaiian shirts, and -like his fans - he seems incredibly happy to be here.  

He bounces around behind his decks as psychedelic visuals swirl on the massive screens behind him, mouthing the words to his 1998 classic ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ as the crowd erupts in elation. After a hype-inducing detour into Iggy Azalea & Charli XCX’s 2014 staple ‘Fancy’, we’re treated to a string of Fatboy Slim standards, including ‘Fucking in Heaven’ and ‘Weapon of Choice’, both of which have the loyal, largely older crowd whooping and jumping with abandon. 

Cook doesn’t ever speak to the sold-out audience in a traditional sense, but he’s extremely engaged with them via facial expressions, physicality, and, on occasion, notes written on his vinyls, which he holds up for all to see. One such note reads “My favourite sunset in the world” during a musical tribute to his home city (‘Put your hands up for Brighton!’), before the camera pans to highlight the beautiful orange glow which frames the sea behind us, serving as a suitably majestic backdrop to Cook’s heartfelt celebration of love and community.  

At another point, he holds up a sign which says ‘Put your phones away. Live in the moment’, though in fairness, the vast majority of punters appear to be doing exactly that, arms aloft and ecstatic. This hysteria surges even further when Fatboy Slim delivers his signature song roughly halfway through the 2-hour set - yes, it could only be ‘Praise You’, an anthem that’s immediately recognisable from its opening piano refrain right through to its singalong chorus, which - in a shock to precisely no one - the crowd bellow back at him with verve.  

As much as Cook’s own material (ostensibly at least, given the number of samples featured throughout most of it) is what people are here to hear, it has to be acknowledged that the man, like all great DJs, knows how to craft a quality mashup. We’re treated to several over the course of the evening, even if the first one is more of an inspired transition rather than an out-and-out melding. 

Slowly incorporating the timeless melody of Stevie Wonder’s ‘As’ into his layers of electronics and big beat backing, Cook gradually increases the volume until we’re all singing along to the soul icon, before diluting it back down into the mix, effortlessly replacing it with Radiohead’s moodily surreal ‘Everything in Its Right Place’, which works wonderfully within the sonic landscape of Fatboy Slim. 

It’s not the only time he’ll triumph with such an audacious pairing. Later on, he gives every punter goosebumps by teasing the start of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ - well remembered thanks to its starring role in Trainspotting - only to subvert expectations and pair the rave classic with The Killers’ beloved megahit ‘Mr Brightside’, a move that pays off in spades, as the audience experience the 00s indie anthem like never before. 

Soon after, Cook deploys one of his own megahits: ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat’ is performed and met with absolute aplomb, it's simple but effective lyrical hook ready-made for nights like this. By now the sky has darkened, but the audience’s spirits are as bright as ever, aided by a spectacular, laser-laden lightshow which helps the beach party feel increasingly like a legitimate rave. Two more seismic mashups are in store, though this time they consist of Fatboy Slim classics paired with legendary rock tracks, as opposed to unexpected pairings of generally famous songs. 

First up is an effective melding of Nirvana’s iconic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right Here Right Now’, Kurt’s raspy, largely isolated vocals planted over Cook’s atmospheric synth intro before the song begins in earnest. Last, but certainly not least, is the genius combination of ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ with The Rolling Stones’ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, dubbed ‘Satisfaction Skank’ upon its long-awaited official release late last year. 

It’s raptously received, and with good reason. When you hear the "Right now, funk soul brother, check it out now" refrain sung over the ‘Satisfaction’ riff, it just makes sense. It honestly sounds as if it was always meant to be, and the audience reacts as such. Throw in the jangly riff of The Beatles’ ‘Day Tripper’, and you have a fab start to Fatboy Slim’s 4 night residency on the beach. 

Perhaps fellow Brightonian Matt King - AKA Peep Show’s lovable rogue Super Hans - said it best - “Big beats are the best”. 

Words by Ben Left 
Photo Credit: Josette Crispin @jcrispinphoto

2000trees: last minute replacements, the heatwave to end all heatwaves, and even the threat of a runaway Haaland in the quarter final — nothing could stop the fan favourite festival from excelling. 

Straight into it! 

With the baking Cheltenham sun already making itself known, what better place to start the weekend in the shady Forest? Enter, Saint Senara.  The local duo’s blend of gothic folk, blues-y rock and immersive storytelling suited the woodland setting perfectly, tambourine, drums and guitar combining to soundtrack one of the festival’s quieter openings. ‘Ophelia’ drifted effortlessly through the trees, Chloe and Andrew’s harmonies near entrancing in the arboric paradise around them, before the sadly-not-prophetic ‘There’s A Storm Coming’ remained purely metaphorical, though its swelling instrumental bridge hinted at the sort of frenzy it could spark with a bigger crowd. True to form, they finished with the murder ballad ‘Lost Little Marie’, the Forest Stage crowd stomping along with smiles on their faces to the Cornish folk song, even as they clung to beloved patches of shade.

From acoustic to atmospheric: Lonesome continued the day with soaring metalcore that felt tailor-made for 2000trees. Frontman Jay Kerr-Gray’s clean vocals echoed across the tent as the group tore through tracks from last year’s ’In The Hope This Finds You’, with opener ‘Save Your Words’ always a particular delight; dressed in his trademark, mystical veil of sequins  — a bold choice considering the relentless heat — he seemed genuinely taken aback by the size of the crowd, laughing between songs as cheers rolled back towards the stage. Even if some of the songs blurred together stylistically, the quality never dipped; every chorus felt huge enough to close the set, particularly as the soothing cleans splintered into anguished cracks and cries to really drive home the emotion. 

Meanwhile, Edinburgh pop-punks happydaze just set out to have fun. “Are you ready for a fucking belter?”, Luke Bovill asked as they group took go the stage. “Let’s fucking dance!” The set was just joy. There was no finesse, no subtlety. Pure frantic. in-your-face fun, all infectious hooks and sunny melodies. The crowd perhaps didn’t move quite as much as the songs deserved — surviving the heat clearly took priority over endless circle pits — but tracks like ‘Missing Out’ and ‘Faded’ still landed well enough to keep spirits high.

On the other side of wanting to survive the heat, the masked outfit of The Skinner Brothers took to the sun-drenched main stage with the faceless, sneering swagger that’s selling out venues left and right. Still wearing their balaclavas was a bold choice, sure, but the speed that they rattled through their set — tracks like ‘XL Bully’, ‘Mark Of The Beast’ and ‘Apex Predator’ flying on by, even throwing in a sped-up cover of ‘Seven Nation Army’ for good measure — felt like a group desperate to make the most of their main stage debut, especially as frontman Zachary Skinner climbed into the pit during the afore-mentioned ‘Mark Of The Beast’, delving into the dust his circle pit threw up to rile up his adoring fans. A brilliant set — though asking whether 2000trees were “warmed up yet?” felt maybe just a teeny bit redundant. 

If there was one band seemingly built for thirty-degree sunshine, though, it was the beloved Mariachi El Bronx. Returning to the UK for the first time since 2016, the eight-piece transformed the Main Stage into one enormous fiesta as matching black outfits, trumpets, violins and accordions enveloped everyone present. “Finally Mariachi El Bronx come to 2000trees!” laughed Matt Caughthran before opener ‘Forgive Or Forget’, with ‘48 Roses’ and ‘Wildfires’ flaring past in the blazing heat. 

“Our Californian skin is used to this heat but your poor, delicate English skin must be in quite the predicament”, he grinned at the hundreds of sweaty faces beaming back at him, tongue-in-cheek as security were mobbed for the pints of water being handed out; but with the likes of ‘Bandoleros’, ‘High Tide’ and ‘Norteño Lights’ keeping the atmosphere relentlessly upbeat, it was impossible not to just revel and indulge in the joyous occasion, as conga-line circle pits — or at one point one that stretched across the entire crowd, picking up stragglers like a live-action game of Snake — left everyone a happy wreck. Joyous and beautiful. 

Bleech 9:3, on the other hand, felt a slightly more sombre affair. Emerging to a haunting rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ blaring over the speakers, the shoegaze-grunge quartet slowly built walls of distortion around The Cave, with ‘Jacky’, ‘No Surprise’ and ‘Lowboy’ blending shimmering guitars with heavy, grunge-inflected riffs. There was little crowd interaction beyond the occasional deadpan observation that “it is very hot”, instead letting the music do the talking — although, strangely, the crowd felt muted. At least until the closing duo of ‘Tourniquet’ and especially ‘Ceiling’, anyway, the crowd bursting alight with sing-alongs, circle pits, surfers and screams alike. A strangely intimate set for a band set to explode. 

Perfectly poised to take advantage of the (very) slowly cooling temperature, it was time for Bad Nerves. The Essex five-piece barely paused for breath as ‘Baby Drummer’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Electric 88’ and ‘Plastic Rebel’ flew past in a whirlwind of frantic, Ramones-esque punk, the band’s songs arriving so quickly that the set seemed to disappear almost as soon as it began.

Reflecting on their previous appearance in one of the festival’s smaller tents, Bobby Nerves then spent a good few minutes just gushing over the festival in general; shouting out Tigercub for being one of the first bands to ever take them on tour, who’d just played, and proceeding to obsess over the line-up as a whole. The songs, then, felt almost belated, even the recently ‘Network’ or fan favourite ‘Can’t Be Mine’ mere afterthoughts for the band expressing their adoration of the festival. That didn’t stop the crowd, though, as crowdsurfers galore rocketed to the hard-working security, the band enjoying their long-earned moments in the sun.  

Speaking of hard-working security, though, anyone not posted in The Axiom must have been counting their blessings, probably even more so than those posted at Outbreak for the Bring Me The Horizon Shows. Just a few hours after leading a conga line as Mariachi El Bronx, Matt Caughthran was back. “I don’t know what kind of festival you think this is,” he barked. “But today, in this tent, it’s business. No play.”

Yay, chaos!

‘White Shadow’ and ‘Shitty Future’ barely had the chance to begin before crowdsurfers started piling over the barrier, pints flew through the air, water pistols soaked the pit and someone dressed as Tigger somehow survived long enough to be launched overhead. Caughthran admitted he’d butchered the lyrics to the opening song thanks to pulling double duty, but who cared? From the carnage in the crowd, lyrics were likely the last thing on anyone’s mind. And that was just the start of it. People climbed the central support poles. The sound was briefly cut during the ironically named ‘False Alarm’, security threatening to shut the show down if anyone climbed again. Somebody immediately climbed again anyway — or, even more blatantly sneering at the ultimatum, instead climbed the pillar on stage, tearing themselves from security’s grip after crowd-surfing over the barrier and then jumping back into the crowd from a good few feet up. Rather than panic, Caughthran simply shrugged, joked that there was no safe way back down, and carried on. Or, more accurately: “they said if you climb that thing again, they’ll shut it down. I’ll be honest, we don’t give a fuck, if it happens it happens.” Essentially - fuck shit up, go crazy, who gives a shit. 

By ‘Knifeman’, ‘Six Days A Week’ and ‘History’s Stranglers’, it had toned down a little, as if the two sides had backed down from mutual oblivion. Instead, the entire tent seemed to be moving as one.“This isn’t our tent,” Caughthran grinned. “This shit belongs to you.” The wildest thing? They weren’t even headlining the stage. 

Away from the madness, The Virginmarys quietly delivered one of the performances of the day, over in the Forest, to a crowd that felt far too small. Ally Dickaty and Danny Dolan somehow made just guitar and drums sound enormous, ‘You’re A Killer’, ‘Just A Ride’ and ‘Into Dust’ building into towering walls of beautiful blues-infused, Macclesfield-drawled rock; even as the sound tipped into distortion, seemingly turned up way too much for the speakers to handle, it was fantastic. 

‘Motherless Land’ shifted from fragile introspection into Dave Grohl-esque screams, ‘White Knuckle Riding’ simmered with restrained menace before exploding, ‘Look Out For My Brother’ added a welcome blues swagger later on… it felt criminal that only a couple of hundred people witnessed it. On another stage, with cleaner sound, this could easily have been one of Thursday’s defining sets.

As of Thursday, it had been less than two years since Don Broco last headlined 2000trees, closing out the Saturday in 2024. It had also been less than a week since they were meant to be done for the Summer, the last minute festival slot arrange basically minutes after they walked of stage of their Finsbury Park set supporting Biffy Clyro, filling in as last minute replacements for Alkaline Trio, who pulled out of their EU shows due to health concerns. But does any of that really matter? You can never really Broco enough. The Bedford boys are back, baby, and this time it was with a new album. 

‘Cellophane’ exploded into life, Damiani’s trademark, cartoonish, full-body stomps matched only by Simon Delaney’s towering riffs. ‘Pretty’ brought the first of many walls of death, Rob playing pre-emptive peacemaker as he reminded everyone to pick each other up if they fell. ‘Nightmare Tripping’ was disgustingly heavy, the mulleted madman having embraced being a metal vocalist since the band’s last appearance at the festival, screaming jubilantly.  The UK live debut of ‘Somersaults’, ‘Come Out To LA’, ‘Disappear’, ‘Bruce Willis’, ‘Uber’, ‘Fingernails’…  the (relatively) old and the new, all happily sang along and moshed to. The beloved cowbell anthem of ‘Everybody’ — though I personally still miss the cowboy dancing on stage from that pre-covid era — and the acerbic ‘Uber’, the incendiary climaxes of ‘Gumshield’, the hydration break edging of ‘True Believers’ — Don Broco might not be the best band on the line-up, that’s up to personal judgement, but there are rarely ever contenders for anyone more fun. And, as ‘T-Shirt Song’ saw a kaleidoscope of sweaty, multicoloured tops kick up a breeze, or the new closer — blasphemy!! — of ‘Hype Man’ gave the crowd one last hurrah, you couldn’t have asked for better. 

After embarrassingly being sent head over heels and rolling an ankle, Friday started a little later than was hoped. Still, you can do a lot worse than Glass Bridges. With the top of the Marshall tent allegedly hitting 50C the day before — a fact that was easy enough to believe — the Friday was already in full, sweltering swing, and the band took full advantage with their set at the first “big” festival they’d ever played, giddy with excitement. Spending the time to both play and preface their tracks to let newcomers better get what they’re about — ‘Wish’, about yearning, or ‘Pray’, “about every facet of the human experience”, taken from upcoming EP 'In Reverence to All That We Are' — the set felt as intimate as the setting dictated, and the always powerful vocals of Simona Cutifani buffeted the tent and the adoring fans contained within. A great start. 

Bristol’s gloriously chaotic blend of punk, hardcore and noise-rock — à la Knives — were next up, turning the aforementioned Marshall tent into even more of a sweatbox. Opening with the ironically titled ‘The Dagger’, a good third of the band were topless in seconds, frontman Jay Schottlander in particular cosplaying a human puddle; but, if anything, the quick onset of heat exhaustion only added to the unhinged, carefully curated chaos unfurling on stage. ‘PHD’ and ‘I Hope You Get It’ were as fun as ever, the latter seeing Jay hold the mic stand inverted as though trying to pierce himself a near window in the canvas, the former merely the start of Tegan O’Connor’s blaring saxophone escapades, adding to the beautifully discordant wall of sound crashing into the tent; a final ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ the crowd landing somewhere between gleeful mayhem and breathless exhaustion, only served to underline the hottest set of the weekend. 

Over in The Cave, it was time for mini-supergroup Reclus.É to take the stage. Formed by tummyache’s Soren Bryce and the iconic Radio DJ Daniel P. Carter, they’re a hard band to predict — but, for the few dozen waiting patiently in the tent, they were likely one of the most unique sets of the weekend. Fresh from sets at Outbreak Fest and their appearances supporting the legendary Maynard James Keenan’s A Perfect Circle the month prior, 2000trees was still incredibly early days for the band, who drifted effortlessly between delicate, Dolores O’Riordan-esque melodies and throat-shredding screams, Soren apologising early on with a smile: “I’m sorry I’m not an angry man screaming.” The invitation for “queers in the mosh” never quite materialised into a pit however, the crowd instead content to wallow in the tent’s cross breeze and soak up the atmosphere as the likes of the unreleased Fire With Fire, the more restrained Roads and the brutal A Muted TV showcased a band just getting warmed up.

Few vocalists have left a fingerprint on post-hardcore and emo quite like Anthony Green. Between Circa Survive, Saosin, LS Dunes and countless solo releases, his influence stretches across an entire generation of alternative music; a semi-acoustic set in the Forest, then, was a no-brainer. Originally due to support Alkaline Trio on their just-cancelled UK dates, 2000trees instead helped top off a round of intimate solo dates… and then an appearance at Wembley Stadium with My Chemical Romance, because why the hell not?

“Let’s fuck shit up,” he grinned, diving into his more introspective, stripped back solo works. While moments of his ever-so-slightly unhinged yelling still inevitably surfaced, the set was built around his delicate, almost falsetto like croon under the trees’ canopies. A heartfelt cover of Porno For Pyros’ Pets and the Saosin classic Seven Years sat comfortably with ‘Dear Child (I’ve Been Trying To Reach You)’ and ‘Like Magick/Fucks Me Up’; and, while not the busiest set on the stage, it was certainly one of the most special. 

Technical issues delayed Militarie Gun’s arrival on the Main Stage, continuing a frustrating trend throughout the day, but once Los Angeles’ finest got going they wasted little time making up for it. Elevated from The Cave after Lambrini Girls withdrew from the festival while Phoebe Lunny underwent surgery for serious injuries suffered during a stage dive earlier this year, the band seemed hungry to prove they’d earned the spot; Ian Shelton’s barked vocals sat atop infectious, upbeat punk instrumentals as ‘God Owes Me Money’, ‘Fill Me Up With Paint’ and ‘Very High’ bounced effortlessly across the field. A cover of Dazy’s ‘Pressure Cooker’ fit seamlessly into the set before the aforementioned Anthony Green joined the band for ‘Thought You Were Waving’, adding an extra layer of excitement to an already energetic performance that the crowd couldn’t have loved more.

Meanwhile, though, Australian’s finest Banks Arcade was playing The Cave. Heavy bass, relentless strobes and Joshua O’Donnell’s haunting clean vocals made perfect use of the enclosed space as the sinister ‘Change’ and the just-released ‘DON’T MISS’ helped provide chiropractors’ futures in perpetuity; ‘Sick’ and ‘Roulette’, meanwhile, ended the set with quickly-filled chasms of mosh pits. “Keep supporting live music,” O’Donnell reminded everyone. “That’s what all this shit is about.”

Eight years is a long time between festival appearances. Since Mallory Knox last played 2000trees in 2018 there’s been a split, a reunion, an album, an anniversary tour, and (as of about two hours before taking the stage), a new member of the family — quite the bit to catch up on then! Jumping into ‘Ghost In The Mirror, the Cambridge favourites seemed content to try and do just that. ‘Beggars’ and ‘Getaway’, the circle-pit inspiring ‘Wake Up’, the emotional ‘Shout At The Moon’, the ever-infectious ‘Lighthouse’; even without the fan favourite ‘Oceans’, a short, member-down set couldn’t have offered more. 

Some reunions feel inevitable. Arcane Roots’, eight years later, somehow still feel miraculous. Having called it quits in 2018, the trio ‘returned’ last year, a few teasers and feelers reaching out from the ether, before releasing new music in January. Then came the festival announcements, 2000trees and ArcTangents, and a duo of warm-up shows. It was suddenly feeling real. And, judging by the sea of sold-out, limited-edition 2000trees shirts sold out before the festival had even opened its doors proper on the Thursday, there was a fair bit of excitement. 

The ominous introduction to ‘A Wave Across The Sea’ crept in beneath crimson grid lighting, Andrew Groves delicately spinning his auditory web like they’d never left; and, when the time came, effortlessly switching between ethereal falsetto and earth-shaking roars, it was if they hadn’t. ‘Matter’ flowed seamlessly into ‘Off The Floor’; ‘Leaving’ and ‘Indigo’ — all the classics, except maybe ‘Sacred Shapes’. Jack Wrench predictably remained outrageous throughout, smashing his drums with abandon, while Daryl Atkins added a smidge of a lighter touch with his kit — yes, a second drum kit. You love to see it. 

By the time the truly feral mosh pits broke out for closer ‘If Nothing Breaks, Nothing Moves’, adoring fans making up for the eight years they’d missed, you’ve got to wonder what took them so long. 

One of Wales’ most beloved rock bands, now with added Lucas! Replacing a pretty iconic vocalist after two decades is no easy task, but then not every band has Lucas Woodland on speed dial. Entering his third year fronting one of Wales’ most beloved post-hardcore bands, his infectious, exuberant enthusiasm somehow made the decades-old tracks feel as fresh as ever; for a band that hasn’t released new music since 2015, having someone like the Holding Absence frontman as a voice to rely on is perfect, particularly given he himself has always been such a fan. Tearing through classic after classic, then, felt eerily natural and easy to adore. ‘Hours’ got the most love of course, the lesser known ‘Drive’ or ‘The End Of Nothing’ being added to the more obvious inclusions of ‘History’ or ‘Roses For The Dead’, but everyone got a little bit of loving — as long as you stopped listening in 2011, anyway. Other than that, though, there weren’t really many surprises. Ryan Richards took the spotlight with his roared, unclean vocals on ‘Front Row Seats To The End Of The World’; Lucas had his first performance of ‘She Drove Me To Daytime Television’ after explicitly learning the track for the festival; Neck Deep’s Ben Barlow popped out for a cheeky Juneau, waving goodbye with a jaunty “see you tomorrow”. But even the predictable was oddly beautiful. You can’t not feel something during the crowd-led refrain of ‘History’, the despondent, defeated plea in ‘Escape Artists Never Die’, the dire warning of ‘Monsters’. Even if the band have just spent the past fifteen years honing their same setlist to perfection, it’s still damn emotional. 

“We don’t know how long we’ll keep doing this”, Lucas intoned “but that’s the fun. We play like every time might be our last.” Hopefully that won’t be the case anytime soon. 

Who doesn’t love acoustic sessions? The Mark and Me podcasts each year have become a highlight of 2000trees, as a band’s provided the opportunity for a short interview to go with an acoustic set; and, following on from Frank Turner and Coheed and Cambria in previous years, it was time for The Xcerts. Let’s rattle through some of what was said. Favourite venues? King Tut’s, Birmingham’s Hare & Hounds and Exeter’s Cavern. Favourite bands to tour with? Dinosaur Pile-Up, Twin Atlantic and You Me At Six — plus an honourable mention for Fatherson, who they’d never toured with but are  “beautiful boys”.

Fresh from releasing their new album ‘i think i want to go home now’ the previous day and performing it in full for Banquet Records, the trio mixed stories with stripped-back renditions of tracks including ‘pretty ugly’ ahead of their Cave slot in the evening. As a start of a day goes, you can’t get much better. 

If there was an award for the most criminally under-attended set of the weekend, the Liverpudlian East Exchange have a fair dinkum chance to win it. Playing to a shamefully small crowd, the band were phenomenal. Vocalist Sonny K’s reverb-soaked croon exploded into anguished screams throughout ‘unspoken.’, ‘torn.’ and ‘fall.’, while ‘bleed.’ continued the trend of one-word song titles. Wearing two layers in the sweltering heat, the frontman could only laugh: “What a bad idea that was, eh? Looks cool though.” ‘lily.’ offered a brief breather before the darker ‘ghost.’, while ‘Lucies Obsession’ (as per the setlist!) rounded off one of the best sets of the weekend, even as it irrevocably ruined the song title pattern. 

Vinnie Caruana’s Forest set couldn’t have contrasted more with what would come later that evening. The Long Island songwriter, juggling solo duties with the full-band I Am The Avalanche appearance, swapped distortion for heartfelt acoustic songs and hilarious, rambling stories. Part discography-exploration and part thought-vomit, the set drove through covers of both his two bands and solo stuff, meandering off-road with bizarre, oddly concerning stories and background contexts — I’d like to coin the name ‘The Squeaky Butcher’ for the inevitable Netflix true crime documentaries —  as the likes of ‘To Be Dead and In Love’, ‘Hey’ or ‘Is This Really Happening?’ graced the glade. A lovely preface to the chaotic cave set promised later on. 

Baltimore indie emo outfit Have Mercy are pretty damn beautiful, for anyone who has yet to have the pleasure. Their melodic melancholy, washing through the Axiom tent, was as painful as it was heartfelt.  ‘Coexist’, ‘Two Years’, ‘Cigarettes and Old Perfume’ and ‘Let’s Talk About Your Hair’ all found enthusiastic singalongs, while the band also finally delivered on the inevitable festival pun: “I counted yesterday, there were actually 2,220 trees.” Still, an improvement on the maybe ten or so times Cheltenham heard it last year! We’re getting there guys.

A day after rocking out on the Axiom, Arcane Roots returned… well, to their roots. The roots of the trees, that is, for their eagerly awaited acoustic set. “The most expensive acoustic set” ever done, Groves joked, looking back at the expansive set up. But, for a band that usually relied on “smoke and ninjas and daggers in the dark”, expansive light shows at atmosphere always a given, trading it for birdsong, breeze, and sunshine must have felt oddly cathartic. A slew of old favourites — ‘Belief’ and ‘Rouen’, ‘Held Like Kites’ and ‘Resolve’ — had the crowd gloriously singing along, even as ‘Curtains’ and ‘Leaving’ were cut for time. “I feel like there’s a before this and an after this,” Groves reflected, breaking into closer ‘You Are’. You Are not wrong there.

If Vinnie’s solo set was all warmth, self-deprecation, and potential police confessionals, I Am The Avalanche’s hour was all volume and velocity. Gone were the gentle stories; in came guitar solos, crowd surfers and thrown pints of beer. Opening with ‘The Horror Show’ and ‘Laughing and Bleeding’, the New Yorkers wasted no time turning the tent into organised chaos. Vinnie joked that only one song was shared between his solo and full-band sets—“you have to vote which version’s better”—before launching into ‘I MISS CALIFORNIA AND EVERY DOG I’VE EVER MET’, while the emotional ‘True Legends Never Die’, dedicated to anyone the audience had ever lost, gave the crowd a much needed outlet for their passions. By the end, the Cave resembled exactly what the band’s name promised: an avalanche gathering momentum until everything in its path was swept into chaos.

Jumping over to the end of Marmozets, the soaring ‘Captivate You’ was enough to remind everyone just how sorely the Yorkshire band had been missed. Becca Bottomley remains one of British rock’s finest vocalists, switching effortlessly between delicate melodies and earth-shaking, near klaxon-sounding screams throughout ‘Like Last Night’, ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ and ‘Major System Error’, the crowd loving every second, and the performance itself was characteristically explosive.

Few bands embrace dissonance quite like Glassjaw. As mist drifted across the Main Stage, ‘Pretty Lush’ detonated the pit, clouds of dust launched into the air while Daryl Palumbo staggered, lurched and barked his way around the stage like a man permanently on the verge of losing control. “I need your help! This is Siberian Kiss,” he demanded before unleashing another barrage of garbled, Tasmanian Devil-esque screams — seemingly the only cartoon family not already on display, as Tigger and the Cookie Monster fought for aerial supremacy over the crowd, Palumbo swaying hypnotically beside Chad Hasty’s ferocious drumming. It was bizarre, messy and frequently veered in and out of tune, but nobody present cared. For existing fans, it was exactly the glorious fever dream they’d come to see.

(Also) one of Wales’ most beloved rock bands! Neck Deep’s 2000trees headline felt somewhat inevitable after the past few years. Four years after co-headlining Slam Dunk and a decade on from their previous Trees appearance, the Wrexham favourites finally had the festival’s biggest stage to themselves— and they looked completely at home. Ben Barlow joked they would “rattle through the set so everyone can get the football on”, though a mix of cheering and booing denoted a crowd torn in loyalties, and they really did rattle through it. Across a career-spanning set touching every album, ‘Can’t Kick Up The Roots’, ‘Where Do We Go When We Go’, ‘Dumbstruck Dumbfuck’ and ‘Lowlife’ kept the field bouncing, while ‘Crushing Grief’ made a welcome return for long-time fans. Ben wasn’t entirely convinced by the early mosh pits, ordering the men out to create a women-only pit for ‘She’s A God’, before ordering Farage to “suck a dick.” Sadly not in the festival’s budget, but given the crap he does on Cameo, it’s probably just a matter of price. 

There were shoutouts to fellow festival highlights including Funeral for a Friend, Happydaze and Have Mercy, along with constant reminders of just how much the band clearly love 2000trees. They may only have played one show all year, but there was no sense of rust. Instead, it felt like a celebration of everything they’ve become, from scrappy pop-punk upstarts to genuine festival headliners. 

‘A Part Of Me’ prompted one of the day’s loudest singalongs, while ‘In Bloom’ brought the weekend to a euphoric close. As the final chorus echoed across Upcote Farm, it was hard to imagine a more fitting band to send 2000trees 2026 home smiling.

Words by James O’Sullivan
Photography by James Kirkland