THE BACKFIRES – CONSIDER THE BACKFIRES
New indie rock band, The Backfires are here with their debut EP ‘Consider The Backfires’. This release comes not long after their debut single ‘Anything’, which hit a massive 59k streams on spotify, and that was without a press campaign.
Hailing from both sides of the Atlantic (NYC/UK) the boys formed under the name “Qualia Noir” in 2018, toured London and the East Coast before rebranding to ‘The Backfires’ this year. Despite the challenges of being an international band during the global pandemic, The Backfires have definitely shown that anything can be done, after working so hard on this EP.
The first two opening tunes, ‘The Man’ and ‘Anything’ are stylistically indie but attaining a heavier vibe, whilst ‘Falling’ and ‘Preoccupied’ are more on the softer side. Each track on this EP provides something refreshing and with the lack of repetitiveness, it becomes ever so easy to be hooked.
If you are looking for a new, indie, yet exciting sound then the tune ‘Going Gets Easy’ is definitely one for you, with strong similarities to The Courteeners. ‘Falling’ dispenses this stripped back, melancholy ballad, completely flaunting the immaculate vocals and engaging lyrics.
‘Before the Sunrise’ ends the EP and it leaves you wanting to hear more from The Backfires, it is so punchy and fun. You can tell the band has taken influences from 2000s indie/rock/ If you are a fan of Arctic Monkeys, Courteeners, The Strokes, then The Backfires are one to listen out for.
TELLING SECRETS – SECRET LIES
Telling Secrets are a brand-new, Manchester-based, punk rock band, with their debut single ‘Secret Lies’ hitting all streaming platforms on the 26th of February.
‘Secret Lies’ is everything and more that you would want from this genre of music. The first 30 seconds seems quite soft and the vocals take centre stage, but as the tune goes on the heavy riffs and drums shine through and you immediately get Pierce The Veil vibes. Produced and mastered perfectly, you find yourself listening to this on repeat, and after the first few listens you are already singing along.
Considering this is the band’s first tune, there isn’t a lot to fault if any at all. You can tell that a lot of time and effort went into this, in order for it to be exactly how they wanted it prior to release.
If Telling Secrets carry on making tunes to this standard and this (dare I say it) catchy, then there will be a massive future in store for these guys.
EMMA – BABY STEPS
24 year old, pop-rock singer/songwriter from Greater Manchester, Emma, has just released this unreal tune ‘Baby Steps’. Emma says how she wrote this song in the midst of suffering with her mental health and she ‘knew that it needed to be a bouncy, upbeat pop track.’ This is exactly what the song is, it is so fun, catchy, upbeat and is guaranteed to make anyone want to dance.
The first chorus had me thinking how this song could fit into a lot of genres and I could imagine so many people enjoying it. Emma has this authentic yet commercial sound, very kate nash esque. Taking into consideration that Emma only wrote this song for herself, it will definitely lyrically resonate with large audiences as well as captivating a plethora of people just with the beat of the tune.
It is very believable that Emma has an exciting future to look forward to, with her previous songs already gaining her a fair bit of popularity on tik tok.
If you are a fan of Pink, Lily Allen or Kate Nash you will definitely be a fan of Emma! One to look out for in the next few years.
JOEL GLADWELL – MELLO HELLO
Lincolnshire based artist, Joel Gladwell has just released his debut EP ‘Mello Hello’. Written and produced over the past couple of months in lockdown, Gladwell says how he was “Inspired by friends that have moved away” as well as a “relationship breakup and mental health struggles.” This EP is just stunning, beginning to end, you can hear the raw emotion in the hardly edited vocals and meaningful lyrics.
Joel worked alongside David Perkins for the melancholic bass and guitars, as well as his cousin, Harriett who we can hear on the violin. The simplicity of each song on this EP, nowadays is very rare, to be able to hear the somewhat ‘imperfect’ vocals, the instruments without so much echo and reverb, it is just so soothing to the ears.
If you need to unwind after a stressful day, this is the perfect EP to put on and just listen to, especially if you are a fan of the likes of James Bay, Jake Bugg , Paolo Nutini.
MATT ROBERTS – LOSING BATTLE
Evesham based, alternative rock artist, Matt Roberts has just released his third single ‘Losing Battle’. After previously releasing two albums, this song seems like Roberts is going for a new direction for this next album.
I can almost sense some Noel Gallagher inspiration, with the appealing riffs and memorable lyrics. As the song goes on it gets heavier, which is definitely what makes this song, alongside the synthesised backing vocals giving it this electro-rock fusion.
I feel as though the production of this could have been a lot better, which dampened the tune overall. Matt Roberts has got a lot of potential to make it in the industry, especially within the indie/rock genre. With time, experience, and better resources Roberts’ next album could be something special.
