Day three of our twenty five for twenty five, counting down from fifteen to eleven. There is a video on youtube for the Lambrini Girls track, but because of the nature of it, it won’t embed
15 : White Magic for Lovers / The Boy from the Bookshop (from The Book of Lies album)
14 : Memorials / In the Weeds (single)
13 : Ideal Living / Come to Me (from Big House EP)
12 : Flip Top Head / What I Really Want to Know (from Trilateral Machine EP)
Somewhat later than I’d originally intended, the Brighton Music Blog 25 from 25 countdown starts now. The reasons for the delay aren’t completely our fault – two of our top five are releases which only came out in December, which meant re-jigging things to accommodate. So without any further ado, here’s numbers 25-21:
25 : Archie Sagers / Fistral (from Dreams along the Shore album)
24 : Cubzoa / Buckle Up (from Unfold in the Sky album)
23 : Maximilian / Long Time Gone (single)
22 : Radio Anorak / Cows and Chickens (from Rememberer album)
Goodbye‘s debut single feels like it’s been a long time coming – At their first gigs back in Summer 2024 they already felt like a band who had been around for a while. They had songs, they had stage presence, they had a fully formed sound that takes some bands years to establish. I guess what they didn’t have at that point was a reputation, so they’ve been working hard since then and the time is finally right for them to share their first release. Meat has been a staple of their live sets for as long as I remember and appeared on the live cassette that came out back in March as a way of getting some music out into the world before a proper release. The band’s PR calls it dreampop, but there’s definite 80s / 90s indie sound to their guitars (I’m sure I heard someone that they’re named after a song by The Sundays but I can’t find anything online to support that, so don’t quote me on that).
In lead vocalist Megan Wheeler’s own words: “‘Meat’” sort of touches on the idea that some men see women as lustful objects rather than human beings, ogling them as meat. Sometimes you catch a stranger’s eye and they look right through you, as though they are stripping you of everything you are, your personality, skills, talent reduced to just meat. In my experience the majority of women I know have felt this in some form so I kept the lyrics deliberately vague and open to interpretation.”
Last night the band played a launch at the new Bella Union Shop, supported by Atticomatic. The room was packed so I’m glad I got down early for a good view to have the night captured for posterity.
On Tuesday night, George Bloomfield launched his new album Now & Then at Alphabet with a full eight piece band, supported by Soft Top (who also had a cast of thousands on stage). George and his band played the album roughly in order, with a few non-album tracks tucked in the middle. In lieu of an encore the closed with Space Between which came out a couple of years ago.
We were down the front with our camera to catch the action (click through to view large):
If you’re anything like me, you probably aren’t really aware of Tinderbox. Maybe if you were paying attention you might have seen a poster for this week’s Human Interest gig at the Hope & Ruin and thought they were promoters. Actually, Tinderbox is a non profit artist development and music production house, based in Sussex and funded by the Arts Council. In their own words the “exist to make sure cool, diverse music keeps getting made by cool, diverse working artists, who increasingly can’t afford to get into the studio”. The team behind Tinderbox are made up of Lucy Sheehan from Projector, producer / engineer Ben Hampson, who’s been involved an impressive list of bands from Brighton and beyond, and Suzi Ireland, a music industry professional with decades of experience across management, promotion and journalism.
They’re putting on the gig on Wednesday to support some bands they’ve worked with over the last year – Human Interest, That Band Called Susan and Brighton’s Atticomatic. Keep your eyes peeled for future Tinderbox gigs which they’re hopefully putting on a couple of times a year, and if you’re a musician looking to advance your career, maybe look them up and get in touch with them
This weekend was Mutations Festival, and Saturday night’s headliner was local heroes Lambrini Girls. Overall though Brighton felt a bit under represented, with less than 10% given over to local bands. On Friday, you couldn’t have watched both Fickle Friends and Ditz because they were in clashing slots (although they are very different bands). On Saturday Ladylike opened up proceedings at Chalk. Lemonsuckr proved to be so popular that I spent half their set stuck in the queue outside Dust and when I did get in they were struck down with technical difficulties. Because both of the timings of both of those sets, I didn’t manage to get to Alphabet for My Precious Bunny, although I heard good things afterwards, and Opus Kink were on way past my bedtime. Overall though, it was a great festival – they probably needed a few more small stages open in the afternoon before the bigger venues opened up, and the weather was very forgiving, the bill overall was diverse enough to not get boring. Here’s to next year (with hopefully a few more Brighton bands on the bill)
Nobody could accuse the New Eves of resting on their laurels – it’s been a massively busy year for them, playing multiple gigs at the Great Escape, releasing The New Eve is Rising at the start of August, supporting Black Country New Road on their September tour, and then putting out a brand new single recorded after their album midway through their own tour. Last night though, they got to sleep in their own beds as they played a hometown show headlining Concorde 2, technically the end of the tour, but they head off to play another festival on Sunday. Support came Radio Anorak, a band inextricably linked to the New Eves way beyond Kate Mager playing bass in both bands – so much so that the each band joined the other for the closing song of their respective sets. Last time I saw the New Eves was at the Pipeline when they played Brighton Noise’s unofficial Great Escape showcase in a room that barely held fifty people. Last night they proved that they can scale things right up and sound just as good in a big space – The New Eves have Risen!
(click through to view large)
Buy / Listen to The New Eves new single Red Brick / Whale Station here:
Today Archie Sagars releases his new solo album Dreams Along The Shore. As well his solo work, you may have seen him onstage as a quarter of Ladylike, or know him as the face behind Crafting Room Recordings, releasing music from the likes of ELLiS·D and Maximilian. We caught up to chat about the album, and how his solo work slots alongside his other activities.
The album has been preceded by a clutch of singles – Silver Lake, Tolcarne and Fistral on 20th August. Those of you with a detailed knowledge of Cornwall might recognise the latter two singles as beaches on the north coast of the county. AS: The whole of the second half is named after places around Newquay. it literally follows the coastline from Tolcarne, Great Western, Towan, Fistral, Crantock. I’m originally from Wiltshire, not Cornwall, but went to Newquay a lot as a kid. It’s a place that I’ve gone back to most summers and pretty much whenever I can. It’s following the memories made on each of the beaches. And then the first half is more themed around the sea and the coast around Brighton – but like a love letter to the sea in a way and to the places that I’ve grown up in.
The songs were mostly written over the last five years, spanning Archie’s time since he relocated to Brighton. While memories of beaches from his childhood provide the backdrop, the album also explores relationships with people that have come and gone over that period through dream pop, ambient and dark post punk.
Alongside the development of Dreams Along The Shore, Archie has also been a member of Brighton band Ladylike. I asked him how he decided whether his songs would end up being brought to Ladylike or saved for himself AS: The only track on the album where there has been crossover was Fistral – I was just messing around while other people who were setting up and I really liked the riff and I took it home and made it something different. And there’s been some times where at their root the riffs might be quite similar, but I feel that they’re disguised enough to not notice. But I think in terms of writing songs, Ladylike and my own stuff is quite different. There’s not really a lot of overlap where I’ll be taking something to my own stuff instead of taking it to Ladylike . It’s kind of, you know, they feel really quite separate.
Archie’s other big project – Crafting Room Recordings dates back even further. It started in 2019 as a vehicle to launch his own music, and his friends bands. Over lockdown he started working with other bands to put out their music, including a number of EPS from Hualan, a band from Wuhan in China, where Covid was first identified. Their releases all sold out quickly, while behind the scenes Archie was hearing about how the lockdowns were affecting things for them. The success of these releases was a turning point for the label, elevating it things way beyond their roots. The next big landmark came after seeing ELLiS·D at Green Door Store’s 234 Festival: AS: I went to see Hutch and then saw Ellis afterwards and then just thought he was amazing, just sent him an email, then met up and figured things out about a cassette to release. Then we did another cassette, then released his debut EP about two years ago now, on vinyl, and it’s been like a long process of us both learning the ropes together at the same time, figuring out how to make this a properly professional thing and really technical next level. He’s always been very DIY-spirited, running his own gig nights, in Hove and then in the Rossi Bar. He’s always been pushing the local scene every step he can. And it’s been really fun to watch him. When I saw him I just thought he was one the best things I’ve ever seen. And I still think that now.
At the end of last year Crafting Room Put out “Brighton Compilation 2024” which firmly put them at the centre of the local scene, featuring releases from Ellis D, Ladylike, Ideal Living, Eva Lunny, Maximilian, Soft Top, Attic-O-Matic, Opal Mag, Sad Dads, and more. Around the same time, Lambrini Girls announced their album and featured on the cover of NME. The world had their eyes on the Brighton Music scene, and at the centre of it seemed to be Crafting Room, who appeared in a Bandcamp feature on the city as well as being interviewed on 6Music. AS: I wouldn’t say that I’m responsible for the way that the Brighton Music scene has exploded over the last few years, but I’ve been very happy to play a small part in whatever way I can. Helping out by releasing Ideal Living’s EP and Ellis’s EP on vinyl. But I think there’s just been so much great stuff going on Brighton for quite a while now, so it’s really exciting to see things kick off. And hearing people talk about the Brighton scene from other places is fantastic.
Dreams Along The Shore by Archie Sagars is out today on Crafting Room Recordings
When I first saw The New Eves back in 2023, I knew instantly that they were something special. The first sign was the hushed reading of their manifesto, read out by Nina Winder-Lind to a rapt audience (which has been recorded for the album as opener The New Eve). There was the fact that they played rock’n’roll but rejected the traditional guitar bass and drums format. And it was because as well as playing rock and roll they switched effortlessly to earthy, visceral folk music. There was also the way they mixed up the instruments they played throughout the set – Nina Winder-Lind on both cello and guitar, Ella Oona Russell on drums and flute, Kate Mager on bass and the biggest harmonica you’ve ever seen, and Violet Farrer on guitar, violin and interpretive dance. All the old rules were out of the window. Their name and their lyrics are steeped in literature and poetry, but rather than being a haughty intellectual pursuit the band translates this into something very accessible.
And tomorrow their album, The New Eve is Rising is released. Featuring all Highway Man, Cow Song and Astrolabe, which have all been singles, as well as the aforementioned The New Eve, and a handful of other tracks, the New Eves are not just rising is not just rising, but have very much arrived.
The New Eves are playing a host of instores over the next few weeks, including Resident on 8th August, and are hitting the road in September for a bigger tour in September, stopping off at Concorde 2 on 9th October. The New Eve is Rising is released on Transgressive Records on 1st August
If you’re anything like me, you probably aren’t really aware of Tinderbox. Maybe if you were paying attention you might have seen a poster for this week’s Human Interest gig at the Hope & Ruin and thought they were promoters. Actually, Tinderbox is a non profit artist development and music production house, based in Sussex and funded by the Arts Council. In their own words the “exist to make sure cool, diverse music keeps getting made by cool, diverse working artists, who increasingly can’t afford to get into the studio”. The team behind Tinderbox are made up of Lucy Sheehan from Projector, producer / engineer Ben Hampson, who’s been involved an impressive list of bands from Brighton and beyond, and Suzi Ireland, a music industry professional with decades of experience across management, promotion and journalism.
At the end of last year Crafting Room Put out “
Brighton Music Blog 