Leeds
Live Review: Alfie Templeman, Mellow Moon Tour – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 04.03.2022
Alfie Templeman is one of those overnight successes that’s actually been a few years in the making. Even at the age of just 19, he’s been writing and recording since 2016, and his professional debut was released in 2018. A few great EPs and a critically acclaimed ‘mini album’ – Forever Isn’t Long Enough – …
live review: self esteem – prioritise pleasure tour – leeds stylus / 02.03.22
A sold out crowd came together at Leeds Stylus last night, ready to dance for Self Esteem’s Prioritise Pleasure tour. Behind the name, Rebecca Lucy Taylor. Recently nominated at the 2022 BRIT Awards for ‘Best New Artist’ & racking up an amazing 3 nominations at the 2022 NME Awards (including ‘Best Album in The World’ …
Live Review: Pale Waves – Leeds O2 Academy 17.02.22
Now that coronavirus restrictions are lifting, gigs are well and truly back ON. On this blustery night in Leeds, the O2 academy plays host to Pale Waves; an indie band with an intense gothic edge. Original subheadliners, Hot Milk, had to pull out of a few dates on Dr’s orders so stepping into their shoes …
Live Review: SOAK – Oporto Bar, Leeds 01.02.2022
Review and photos by Huw Williams SOAK brought their blend of indie folk and dream pop to Oporto Bar in Leeds tonight, in support of Independent Venues Week. It shows the importance of these kinds of venues. A few dozen people crammed into an intimate venue like this really is what live music is all …
Say Psych: Album Review: Yard Act – The Overload
In many ways, Yard Act exist through the fusion of seemingly opposing entities. Old friends in a new band, they seek out shades of socio-political grey, imbibing their stories with sharp, satirical spoken-word humour. Spearheaded by James Smith (vocals) and Ryan Needham (bass), the now four-piece, completed by Sam Shjipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums), …
Track: Jake Whiskin wraps us up in the delicate whisper of ‘Cold Morning’ – a song of loss and dawn rising
LEEDS singer-songwriter Jake Whiskin, a man of considerable and empathetic talent, knows not only the horrible cold of a dank mid-December morning, but the terrible soul-deep chill of awaking into loss from that respite, sleep; count one, two, three and plunge from your dreamworld into a waking, aching nightmare. Out today, is the tender, sparse …
Track: Josephine Sillars – ‘I’ll See You When I See You’: heartfelt songwriting from a rising Highlands talent
THE LATEST instalment in the singles club run by Leeds grassroots organisation Come Play With Me – the label, zine, promoter and all round caring body active on the West Yorkshire scene – comes from a fine female singer-songwriter, now resident in the capital of God’s Own Country, but who came south from the Highlands …
Track: Bad Idea join the Come Play With Me Singles Club with a shoegaze gem in ‘Crash’
IT’S always a really good idea to keep your ear to the ground with what’s happening at Leeds label Come Play With Me’s singles club; the Yorkshire label is one of those essential microscopes into a particular scene, keeping an eye on who’s getting hot in the city and its county hinterlands. Please be upstanding …
Track: Carpet brings the Malkmus instant fuzz anthem dynamic to ‘Terror Tear’
BRINGING the vibe of Malkmus over the ocean to bear on only his second single, Rob Slater, the Leeds musician who’s set up in business as Carpet, has produced a nugget of lo-fi fuzzpop that’s up there with the best of them in “Terror Tear”. Come rock out with us. Rob, by day an engineer …
Track: LENU – ‘Vulnerable’: an emotional synthpop rush from Come Play With Me’s singles club
COME PLAY WITH ME, the excellent grassroots label, magazine, festival organiser and all-round good eggs doing the right work in keeping the Yorkshire music scene vibrant, runs a singles club, CPWM. Its first release of the year is a split 7″ featuring Sunflower Thieves, whose side of the vinyl “Don’t Mind The Weather” we looked …