Browsing Tag

UK Indie

Matt Camillo – Stop to Look Around: A Transatlantic Synthesis of Americana-Tinged Folk-Rock and UK Indie

Posted on 24 February 2024

Matt Camillo’s seminal single, Stop to Look Around, is a striking synthesis of 90s-tinged UK Indie and American Folk Rock which proves that aged 23, the London-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist possesses a maturity in his music that belies his years.

The track resonates with the melodic influences of Travis, Stereophonics, and Beady Eye, evident in its steady indie rock chords. Yet, it’s the subtle infusion of Americana into the rhythmics that sets this song apart, creating an uplifting yet bittersweet sound that is quintessentially English in its melancholy.

Lyrically, ‘Stop to Look Around’ carries the essence of a love song, yet it’s imbued with a level of artistic ambiguity that allows listeners to find their own meaning within its verses. This narrative flexibility ensures that the track leaves a lasting impression, regardless of how one interprets it.

Camillo, who began composing music at 13 and has since dabbled in Electronica and Pop before settling into the singer-songwriter genre, shows a keen understanding of his musical influences. His experience, including opening for acclaimed acts like Never the Bride and playing at notable venues shines through in this single.

The song’s production balances simplicity with sophistication, allowing Camillo’s vocal delivery to take centre stage. The instrumentation supports without overpowering, creating a harmonious backdrop that complements the lyrical journey. As a precursor to his upcoming acoustic debut EP ‘(Would You) Believe?’, this track cements Camillo’s status as a rising star in the indie scene.

Stop to Look Around was officially released on February 9th. Stream the single on Spotify

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The modern malaise in KEEF’s ‘Adela Road’ is sonorously close to home

Posted on 26 January 2024

In their latest single, Adela Road, KEEF masterfully encapsulated the essence of 90s Britpop while infusing it with a modern indie rock spirit and extended the sonic timeline further with the psychedelic soul of the 60s to pay a vibrant homage to the past while allowing the release to resonate profoundly with the present.

The echoes of Britpop are weightlessly carried in the kaleidoscopically colourful melodies as the crooning vocals emanate the same indie rock raconteurial soul as The Walkmen. As past and present combine, parables for modern times entwine within the rhythmic allegory of how bitter-sweet footfall on paving stones can be when it brings back the memories of brighter days gone by. The sonorousness of the vocal performance as it finds complete synergy with the richly textured instrumental arrangement ensures that every line hits with bruising precision.

While music is subjective, I can safely say that Adela Road will be close to home for many. It’s thick with the modern malaise that makes it so easy for days to slip away without any tangible meaning. It’s a fucking stunning release, which shines a light on how high the calibre KEEF’s output is. “I’ve been counting the gravestones to pass the time, so many memories, so many lines” may just be one of the stunningly haunting lyrics I’ve heard since The Holy Bible first tore my soul in two.

Adela Road will be officially released on January 26; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AFTERDRIVE augmented introspection in their curve-transcending indie pop-rock hit, Stick Around

Posted on 6 January 2024

If you’re a sucker for catchy indie pop-rock hooks, evocatively sonorous vocal versatility, and complex layered arrangements, you’re going to want to save a space for the UK’s hottest breakthrough artist, AFTERDRIVE, on your radar. Their standout single, Stick Around, which augments melancholic introspection to anthemic stadium-filling levels, is a testament to the outfit’s ability to craft music with swathes of cross-over appeal.

Opening with choral, reverb-drenched guitar lines that hark back to the dreamy soundscapes of Slowdive, Stick Around immediately sets a tone of profound contemplation. This serene beginning soon gives way to a burst of energy as the song transitions into an electrifying chorus.

With the vocal performance bearing resemblance to the impassioned earnestness of Matty Healy, the single comes charged with emotional depth, which gives even more power to the uplifting and poignant melodies. Even though their music is perfect for live performances where their energy and charisma shine the brightest, Stick Around has all the makings of a playlist staple.

With over 30 gigs in 2023 and a growing presence in the festival circuit, AFTERDRIVE is clearly on an upward trajectory. Their music, as Connor Bennett of BBC aptly put it, is the start of something big. For those who yearn for music that combines the best of indie pop and rock, look no further than AFTERDRIVE’s latest offering.

Stick Around is available to stream on Spotify and all major streaming platforms.

Keep up to date with the latest releases from AFTERDRIVE via Facebook & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Oxford singer-songwriter Emma Hunter brought Latino Post-Punk to UK shores in her artfully augmented single, Guilty

Posted on 29 October 2023

If Iggy Pop is the Passenger, the Oxford singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Emma Hunter is the driver in her biggest single and battle of conscience to date, Guilty, which hit the airwaves on September 29.

With her artful sonic signature scribed through her Flamenco guitars augmented with a brashy and garagey high-octane post-punk energy that will ensnare fans of Siouxsie Soux and Debbie Harry, this guilt-riddled and demon-parading evolution is a far cry from her former releases which reach the epitome of affectingly arresting.

Hunter’s new-found strident approach to enticing listeners into her conceptually cunning creativity will undoubtedly put her on the right trajectory towards the reverence she’s deserved from the outset. As much as the industry maintains that it favours authenticity and talent, her absence from the charts is a damning testament to their appetite for melodic monotony.

Stream Guilty via YouTube and Spotify and keep up to date with Emma Hunter’s new music via Facebook and Instagram. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Join Solar Eyes on a rapturous plateau by ascending with the ethereal aesthetic in their alt-indie single, Top of the World

Posted on 23 October 2023

Take the kaleidoscopic scintillation from the National’s guitars and the indie rock croons of the Arctic Monkeys, splice them into a dreamy to the point of romantic etherealism new wave production, and you will be left with something akin to the latest single, Top of the World, from the Birmingham-based duo, Solar Eyes.

The amorous air of elation is superlatively contextualised and synthesised into the single that pulls you into a captivating score that all too readily shares the experience of being on a rapturous plateau.

The Fierce Panda Records-signed outfit comprising Sebastian Maynard Francis and Glenn Smith has been making major waves since making their debut; this year, they’ve performed at The Great Escape and SXSW, and their music has featured on everything from BBC MOTD to Sky Sports, which stands as a testament to the commercial potential that oozes from the pores from the dynamic outfit which will undoubtedly reach even bigger heights in 2024.

Top of the World is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

wych elm gave grunge a place on 21st-century airwaves with their pitchfork-permeated single, ‘Burnt at the Stake’

Posted on 11 October 2023

Wearing their Angel Olsen and Courtney Barnett influences on the sleeve of their guitarwork and their devil-may-care vocal lines, the Bristol-based trio, wych elm, gave their latest psychedelically sludgy feat of alt-indie, Burnt at the Stake, as much mainstream appeal as their hits that have surpassed the million stream mark.

The winding carnivalesque-with-macabre-glamour melodies are carved through by the angular syncopated notes to ensure the tension is succinctly taught before the breaks into the choruses that blister with catharsis.

Burnt at the Stake is the first single to drip from the forthcoming EP, Field Crow, which will drop on November 13th. Make sure wych elm is on your radar for the deliverance of it and in your gig calendar for when they embark on their UK tour from the same date.

Burnt at the Stake was officially released on September 30th; stream it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Turncoat Billy sang the worn-in blues in their latest indie single, Hand Me Downs

Posted on 14 August 2023

After enamouring us with their psychedelically vintage single, Kaleidoscope, the Tottenham-hailing prodigal sons of indie rock nostalgia, Turncoat Billy, are back on our radar once again with a definitively infectious sound that carries all of the feel-good grooves of a Ray Charles hit single.

The jaunty honkytonk piano keys stab their way through the theatrical flair of their brass-infused cosy new single, Hand Me Downs, which boasts swathes of 70s pop swagger and evidence that Turncoat Billy is no longer the band equivalent of the girl next door.

It is safe to say they’ve come into their stride, and wherever they go from here, we will be keen to follow, especially if their singles continue to run in the same quirkily romantic and self-deprecating vein as Hand Me Downs.

Hand Me Downs will officially release on August 14; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stone Branches reached the pinnacle of intimately introspective indie rock with The Way Out

Posted on 4 August 2023
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With angular indie guitars that will sucker punch the soul as viscerally as the ones crafted by Interpol and The Toxic Airborne Event, mixed with a Mogwai-esque ethereal atmosphere, the up-and-coming indie outfit, Stone Branches, is undeniable in their latest single, The Way Out.

The intricacies of the artfully intimate lead guitar work will speak volumes to anyone on the introspective side of the spectrum as the lyrics portray the value of hindsight and coming to terms with the past. The sporadic touch of twee indie twang to the reverberantly rich vocals brings a sense of purity to the melancholy that is superlatively laid out by the art-rock outfit that is currently being hailed as one of the most original live acts on the South Coast.

After releasing their debut EP, Mantra, in December 2022, the emotionally intelligent Southampton-hailing outfit has proven to be an unreckonable force in the local scene and far beyond after receiving airplay on BBC Introducing and reaching the Grand Finals of the Isle of Wight New Blood Competition against 5000 other artists.

The Way Out will officially drop on August 4th; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Q-Days – Underboard: Alt-90s Nostalgia Has Never Been Kaleidoscopically Sweeter

Posted on 7 April 2023

The Brighton-based alt-rock outfit, The Q-Days, is driving nostalgia into the next generation of British guitar music with their dreamy kaleidoscopic 90s Britpop-kicked tones and cathartically honeyed vocal lines. Their latest single, Underboard, is sweeter than Sally Cinnamon under the duress of the choral progressions that lick anthemic soul into every honed note.

With escapism, freedom of expression and euphoria as their triadic ethos, they stand for everything we should be giving an ovation to in the UK right now. It’s the pits, but one thing is for sure, our polluted waters are the perfect breeding ground for prodigal sons of rock n roll that salvation seekers will want to flock to.

After spending their foundling days developing their craft before it reached the airwaves and live stages, The Q-Days were always going to be primed to make a killer debut. So far, they’ve opened for Youth Killed It, The Rifles, and Bilk, but if any breakthrough act is definitively headliner material, it’s The Q-Days.

Underboard will officially release on April 7th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dolly Mavies – I’m All Sugar: Get Your indie Anthem Fix

Posted on 24 March 2023

Oxford, UK singer-songwriter, Dolly Mavies, set the indie anthem bar impossibly high with her latest single, I’m All Sugar, which surges with the same rhythmic and vocal energy of Somebody to Love by Boogie Pimps in spite of the folky flavour.

Taken from her debut album, The Calm & The Storm, the stellar single from the artist who takes influence from the likes of Patti Smith, The National and Daughter, created a uniquely exhilarating listening experience that makes no bones about pulling you through an ardently visceral arrangement where a curveball lies on the edge of every progression.

If Dolly Mavies isn’t as big as Mumford & Sons by the end of the year, someone may as well scorch the earth of the music industry so we can start again. It’s punk as fuck, yet, Mavies still maintains that ever-addictive girl-next-door appeal.

I’m All Sugar will officially release on March 24th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast