Gizmo Varillas is a Spanish-Basque songwriter, musician and record producer, who was raised both in the UK and Spain. His music is a wonderfully colourful mix of tropical Latin, funky Afrobeat, and acoustic folk, which has seen him appear here in numerous mixtapes over the past couple of years. Ahead of his first London headline …
Michael Jablonka is a London based singer, songwriter, and guitarist. I first saw him perform live a few years ago when he was with his previous band The Dark Tides, and went home raving about his mesmerising guitar skills. In recent years he’s released a few singles and EPs under his own name, the latest …
Newcastle Upon Tyne 3-piece Motel Carnation are a new band, with just one track released to date. Dig deeper though, and you find it’s collective of some of the finest CV’s from the local music scene as, from left to right (above), we have Austin Tweddle (vox, guitar, & Scalesia), Conor McBride (drums, Deep.Sleep, & …
Liverpool 4-piece The Cheap Thrills are made up of (left to right above) Callum Fitzpatrick (bass), Anton Eager (drums), Lewis Pike (guitar & vocals), & Terry Eaves (keys & guitar). They’ve already appeared here numerous times given my love of their catchy blend of indie, psych, & synth sounds, mixed with witty wordplay and sing-along …
County Durham based Tom Smith is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and radio DJ, and to date he’s supported such luminaries as The Charlatans, Shed Seven, James Bay, and Catfish & the Bottlemen. Quite impressive for someone who’s only 14! All this is despite having to live with a life limiting condition – Hypoplastic Left Heart …
Essex songwriter Sam Eagle has already achieved a lot for a 19-year old. His wonderfully avant-garde and DIY style brings “jazzy, left field pop tunes to the indie genre”, and this has seen support from numerous heavyweights, which include BBC 6 Music and Radio X, while I’ve seen him live more than once this year …
Phil Simmonds is a songwriter, producer, musical director, multi-instrumentalist, and session musician from London, who’s worked with the likes of Jessie J, Leona Lewis, and Australian singer Conrad Sewell. Having relocated to LA, he’s added to his workload by moving front and centre to create his own incredible music too! The Chronicles of Saint Arc series …
E’spaniel are a jangly synth pop trio from the north east of England, comprising of Christianne (above left) on vocals & guitar, Karen (middle) on bass, and Leon (right) on vocals, guitar, drum machine & keys. They first came to my attention thanks to the infectious brilliance of their track Talking Shop, which opened up …
Run Logan Run are a Bristol duo made up of Andrew Hayes on saxophone & FX, and Dan Johnson on drums & percussion, and together they play a wonderfully heavy & instrumental mix of spiritual jazz. I’ve previously described them as being placed “somewhere between Melt Yourself Down and Yussef Kamaal“, but you can make …
Inspired by a 70’s groove, The Expansions are an instrumental jazz funk quartet from London, featuring Dave Koor on keys, James O’Keefe on guitar, Jonny Drop on drums, and Matt Summerfield on bass. They’ve just released their stunning debut LP, Murmuration, on Albert’s Favourites, a studio & label co-founded by Dave Koor (among others, …
Alternative Friday 