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Sunflower Bean – Baby Don’t Cry


New York trio Sunflower Bean — Julia Cumming (she/her), Nick Kivlen (he/him), and Jake Faber (she/they) — return with their first new material of 2021, the incredible new single “Baby Don’t Cry”, premiered by Radio 1’s Clara Amfo as the ‘Hottest Record In The World’. Written by the band, produced and mixed by UMO’s Jacob Portrait, co-engineered by Jake Faber and Portrait, and recorded between Electric Lady and Sunflower Bean Studios, “Baby Don’t Cry” is an exciting taste of what’s to come from Sunflower Bean in 2022.

Sunflower Bean - Baby Don't Cry (Official Visualizer)

The band says of the new song, “So many things in our lives are disposable. Content and news is consumed and discarded leaving us unfulfilled. ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ is about enjoying the real. The things right in front of us that give us meaning and how sometimes, even sad songs can give you that warm feeling of hope.”

Alongside the release, the band have announced new U.K. tour dates for next year, including a show at the Electric Ballroom in London, tickets available HERE.

Priestgate – Bedtime Story

We’re delighted to welcome the ascendant Yorkshire five-piece Priestgate to the fold, and to share their brand new single ‘Bedtime Story’. Produced by Nick Hodgson (Alfie Templeman) and mixed by Caesar Edmunds (Foals, The Killers, PJ Harvey), the track is a fevered slice of indie dream-pop with deft gothic undertones. Vocalist Rob Schofield explains: “‘Bedtime Story’ is about coming to the realisation that all that’s really yours is your own time. Love, friends, and money will come and go, but you’re always going to be stuck with yourself. Nothing really matters when you’re asleep.

Priestgate - Bedtime Story

Raised in the sleepy town of Driffield in East Yorkshire, Priestgate are Rob Schofield (vocals), Bridie Stagg (drums), Connor Bingham (guitar), Isaac Ellis (guitar), and Kai Overton (bass). The nucleus of Priestgate came together after Ellis was recommended to the band by none other than Schofield’s dad, who he works alongside building coffins as his 9-5 job. Soon after Overton, a mental health worker for the local council, completed the line-up.

Formed as a battlecry against the restlessness and mundanity of rural life, Priestgate began as a reaction to the sparse local music scene around them, which in turn has allowed them to craft and develop their own unique sound without the added pressure of conformity. Drawing comparisons to The Cure and The Maccabees, Priestgate have combined bright guitar-pop hooks with darker lyrical sensibilities, concocting their own angst-laden blend of the hypnotic and euphoric.

Priestgate will also head out as support for The Ninth Wave and Dream Wife this October, before performing at Live at Leeds and then London’s Sebright Arms on Thursday 4 November. Tickets for all of Priestgate’s upcoming shows are available via the band’s website HERE.

Walt Disco – Weightless

Walt Disco today share the astounding ‘Weightless’, a powerful and deeply personal reflection on frontperson James Potter’s experience with their gender identity as a non-binary person. The thundering, industrial-tinged track is accompanied by a fantasy influenced video directed by Eric J Liddle and Kasparas Vidunas with set design by Furmaan Ahmed.

Walt Disco - Weightless

Speaking on the new single, James explains “This song comes from thinking about how I live my life, how I present myself externally and also how I view myself internally. Lyrically it outlines my fear that I have not done enough to express my gender identity and delves into feelings on appearance and my body dysmorphia.” They continue “However the chorus is one of hope. Its message is that it is okay to have not always been sure about who you are or where you are going, and that it’s never too late to start finding new parts of yourself.

“Weightless” and previous single “Selfish Lover” follow last year’s self-released Young Hard & Handsome EP and further highlights Walt Disco as a band that can defy convention to create a youthful, contemporary and queer world of their own making.

In addition, the band have announced their biggest headline show to-date at London’s Scala (capacity 1,000) for Wednesday 20th April 2022. Walt Disco also have forthcoming shows with Duran Duran, at Dot to Dot and TRSNMT festivals and their own Autumn headline tour, dates and tickets HERE.

Sleigh Bells – Justine Go Genesis

Texis, the new album from Sleigh Bells, is set for release on September 10th 2021 and today the duo, comprised of producer/guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss, share a new track from the album, entitled “Justine Go Genesis”. One of the first songs written for Texis, Miller sent an early demo to Krauss in 2018, feeling excited about its ultra-fast tempo but slightly self-conscious about his cartoonish, over-the-top metal riff.  Krauss clicked with the music right away and wrote her bright, unabashedly poppy melody within a few hours of receiving the track, resulting in a song that sounds like the unexpected intersection of Metallica, Spice Girls, and ‘90s drum and bass.

The video for the track, shot on 16mm film and directed by Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell, Queen of Earth, Golden Exits) and Derek Miller with Cinematography by Sean Price Williams (Good Time, …Heaven Knows What), picks up where the band’s video for Texis single “Locust Laced” left off, referencing early 80’s horror films, The Twilight Zone, the band’s own incredible live show, and more. This is the band’s second collaboration with Perry and Williams, who previously worked on the video for “I Can Only Stare”.

Sleigh Bells - Justine Go Genesis (Official Video)

Sleigh Bells – new album Texis + Locust Laced

Sleigh Bells – comprised of producer/guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss – are thrilled to announce their latest album, Texis, set for release on September 10th, 2021. The first single from the record, “Locust Laced”, is a classic slice of Sleigh Bells’ signature-controlled chaos that has made them one of the most exciting bands of the last decade. A video for the song, directed by Miller and Kills BirdsNina Ljeti, features Krauss as a classic country starlet come undone, a perfect complement to the song’s one-two punch of raucous guitar lines and Krauss’s high-octane, anthemic, shout-along chorus.

Sleigh Bells - Locust Laced (Official Video)

Texis is the sound of the duo letting go of hang-ups and inhibitions and allowing themselves to embrace the sort of loud, colourful, genre-melting music only they could make. “We stopped worrying about whether or not we’re in or out of our comfort zone, or if we were being repetitive or formulaic,” says Derek Miller. The first domino was pushed in late 2018 when Miller sent an early demo of the track that would become “Justine Go Genesis” to Sleigh Bells singer and co-writer Alexis Krauss, feeling excited about its ultra-fast tempo but slightly self-conscious about his cartoonish, over-the-top metal riff. Krauss clicked with the music right away and wrote her bright, unabashedly poppy melody within a few hours of receiving the track, resulting in a song that sounds like the unexpected intersection of Metallica, Spice Girls, and ‘90s drum and bass. The wild maximalism of “Justine Go Genesis” would open the floodgates for the exuberant cheerleader metal of “Locust Laced”.

Pre-order Sleigh Bells’ Texis HERE. Digital and CD versions of the album will be available September 10th, and Vinyl on December 3rd.

Sleigh Bells will be touring North America in Autumn and Winter in support of Texis, all dates and tickets HERE.