With festival season just over the horizon it seems like a good time for bands to put out new releases. As always, there’s plenty to choose from. This round-up of new Brighton music includes singles from Yonaka, Scarlett Fae and Orbital (featuring Penelope Isles). There’s also new EPs from Opus Kink, Fred Hills and William John Titus Bishop as well as new albums on their way from Arxx, Holiday Ghosts, Fractured and The Bar Stool Preachers.
Orbital feat. Penelope Isles
‘Are You Alive?’
Well this has got Brighton credentials running right through it. Seminal electronic dance duo Orbital, now resident and recording in the city, have just released their tenth album ‘Optical Delusion’ on London Records, marking their third decade of producing sounds for our times. As is usual Orbital practice, the Hartnoll brothers have also called on a ream of guests to add other textures to the new record’s techno – everyone from Sleaford Mods to Mediaeval Baebes to fellow Brightonians and studio neighbours Penelope Isles. Featured on the album’s third single, ‘Are You Alive?’, Lily and Jack Wolter bring that Penelope Isles dream-pop swoon to the tune’s vocals, gliding over the bubbly electro melodics that define Orbital’s more restrained moments. Not that the track is overly sweet – there’s a simmering tension in the rising hooks and biting bust-up lyrics that gives the song a cutting edge. Is “Picked your heart up, giving it a little clean” menacing enough for you? With Orbital’s upcoming UK tour closing at the Brighton Centre on April 8th, we wouldn’t bet against a Penelope Isles guest appearance… (JP)
Yonaka
‘Panic’
Brighton’s alternative pop rockers Yonaka release this turbocharged tale, crashing in with a power rap which leads into a pleasingly hefty and anthemic “P.A.N.I.C.” chorus. It’s irresistibly fist-punching hooky with lead singer Theresa Jarvis hardly pausing for breath. Apt that Yonaka is Japanese for “dead of night” as the striking video is set in a dark nightmarish world where fast camera work whisks us around unearthly images of masked figures, mannequins and a crazed truck road trip like no other. It signifies the constant struggle we have between good and bad: on this day the former wins the battle as this new single is a rather excellent taster for what we might expect next from the band. (AJ)
Scarlett Fae
‘Seven Eleven’
Scarlett Fae has been on the local music scene for some time now, providing backing vocals for Brighton-based collective One Eyed Jacks and performing on the same bill as celebrated singer Alice Russell. After winning awards for her debut short film ‘Black Molasses’ in 2021, the singer/songwriter and filmmaker has recently released new single ‘Seven Eleven’ on Headcount Records. A laid-back, ethereal soul song about yearning for more time with a lover, it showcases her smooth tone and impressive range. She also features on forthcoming music from Steven Bamidele. Catch her at The Old Market, performing at the MOVES festival on 4th March. (EB)
William John Titus Bishop
‘Second Time Around’
There’s a hint of mystery surrounding Brighton-based singer/songwriter and author William Bishop. With a back catalogue complicated by a serial flow of releases, demos, revisions and reissues, a swelling tide following him online (98,000 Spotifyers and counting) plus short bursts of live action, it’s a story that’s difficult to pin down. What filters through is that although classically trained in cello and double bass, William Bishop eventually found freedom crafting distinctly delicate acoustic songs which build on their own quiet strength. His next imminent EP release, ‘Second Time Around’, is a six-track summation of his sharply drawn storytelling. Yes, there are obvious Dylan/Cohen reference points – the almost spoken vocals, the stark lone guitar and a focus on lyrical depth – but Bishop brings a personal fragility to it all. The lovelorn tingle of ‘Hesperus And Phosphorous’, the allegorical tragedy of ‘St. Augustine’ and the title track’s poetic mourning, all show how music that thrives on simplicity can still be intense. (JP)
Fred Hills
‘Incerto’
We caught Fred Hills and his band playing their first official show last year (read our review here). He has since released his debut EP, ‘Incerto’, on Ninja Tune Production Music. It’s an intriguing instrumental exploration led by delicate guitars, soaring strings and percussive rhythms. Across five songs, Hills and his collaborators manage to weave a rich tapestry full of contrasts, echoed by the black and white photographs that accompany each composition. From lead single ‘Flight’ to the closing title track, the EP takes the listener across an unpredictable musical landscape where complex, wordless emotions are expressed with profound sincerity. (CF)
Arxx
‘Ride Or Die’
The latest single from Brighton duo Arxx is a fresh and thunderous piece of power pop that works both as a righteous celebration of queer love and a statement of the band’s self-belief. ‘Ride Or Die’ is urgent, bombastic and over way too quickly. As the title track from the long-awaited debut album, it’s also an indication of where producer and long-term collaborator Steve Ansell (Blood Red Shoes) is taking the band’s sound. Though the duo’s live shows are rooted in the garage rock set-up of drums and guitar, the latest singles seem designed to demand attention on any modern pop playlist. Arxx play an instore launch show at Resident Records on March 31st. (BB)
The Bar Stool Preachers
‘Above The Static’
This Brighton-based band’s third album is a kaleidoscope of punk indie energy washed over with a wave of unstoppable catchiness. Standout track ‘Call Me On The Way Home’ is a dynamic new wave love racket, as sensitive as it is rowdy: “I know you feel alone, but I’m by your side”. The raw, spontaneous vibe adds so much fun, originating from the songs starting out as demo recordings in a Covid closed pub space. With a rainbow-coloured retro animated video, the single ‘All Turned Blue’ radiates sunshine from the opening “Wa ah ah ohh”. We are hurtled through the ups and downs of fallin’ in love by frontman Tom McFaull. A killer riff and crashing drums, just cooling off with a ska/reggae beat at half time makes this track the perfect flagship for the album. You’ll be converted. Release date March 31st, with a gig at the Green Door Store in Brighton on April 29th. (AJ)
Fractured
‘Cracking Up’
‘Cracking Up’ is an apt name for an album by a band that split up over Brexit and somehow reformed during the pandemic. The release date of April Fools’ Day is also fitting, given the comedic slant of their back-to-basics punk rock. Having originated in Reading in the early 80s, Fractured have long since made their home in Brighton – but that’s not to say they’ve settled in comfortably. The four-piece have previously released tongue-in-cheek protest songs about London Road and Preston Park, and have now gone even more niche with a track called: ‘The Enemy (Of The Friends Of Blakers Park)’. It’s a punchy opener to the album and conjures an amusing image of lead singer Jeff Hayward causing no end of trouble at local community meetings. Catch him lodging his complaints at a launch party on April 12th at the Komedia. (BB)
Holiday Ghosts
‘Absolute Reality’
Holiday Ghosts’ third album (released April 21st) starts with a simple vintage strum, before ‘Rocket’ erupts into a Cornish hybrid of NY punk and Mick Ronson’s work for Bowie and Michael Chapman. Ultimately little has changed in the band’s signature C86 skiffle-punk Velvet Underground sound – which has caught the ear of many including DJs like Marc Riley – but by the second listen we’re grooving in our chair as the review is typed. Take the scratchy start of ‘Vulture’ and get pulled into this urgent rock‘n’roll gem. Take the jangly guitar harmonies that dance around Katja’s vocals on ‘Lose The Game’. Take the uplifting yearning harmony of ‘Blue’. Take the soaring solo of ‘B Truck’. This record delivers 110% satisfaction to both body and mind. These ghosts have been hard at work and it shows. (NM)
Opus Kink
‘My Eyes, Brother!’
With a louche “1,2,3,4” that comes in sometime after the drum beat has started, Opus Kink’s new EP (released May 18th) pulls us via a funky bassline into a sleazy world of brassy grit and a deranged tail of depravity that involves someone’s sister with a ball and chain. There are screams, growls and a trumpet line which cuts through like fire before Angus starts chanting “Here I come” and violence ensues, until it jerks to an awkward end that involves bedsores. Next up is ‘Dust’, with its clanging start and ‘Crazy Horses’ style riffing, and ‘Children’ which adds a Talking Heads funky rhythm and some free jazz. Things slow down to a murderous grinding prowl for ‘Malarkey’, which is certainly a high point of the record. After that the band falls apart in ‘Piping Angels’; before final track ‘1:18’ takes the listener on a compelling ride into a crazy horizon. Opus Kink are clearly aiming for something grandiose, as evidenced by the cover, which shows the band surrounding the fireplace of an arty Georgian parlour. It is the kind of image that may have graced the cover of an early Rolling Stones record. While perhaps not quite the best aural comparison, it does set the stakes suitably high. This is an essential record for lovers of the dark stuff. (NM)
Words by Anita Joyce, Ben Bailey, Cess Frangi, Emma Baker, John Parry and Nick McAllister
Photo by Kenny McCracken
