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SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE have been making thrilling and beguiling “collage rock” for the better part of a decade. Across four albums, they’ve stretched the boundaries of genre with songs that often abruptly contort from inviting hooks to menacing bursts of noise and sample-based chaos. With their new EP i’m so lucky, the Philadelphia trio of Zack Schwartz, Corey Wichlin, and Rivka Ravede close the chapter of 2021’s ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH with four tracks that count among the most confident, dynamic, and streamlined music of their careers so far. This is the band at its most lucid and emotionally transparent. Work on i’m so lucky started during a transitional period in the band members’ lives. In the summer of 2022, Schwartz and Rivka ended their romantic relationship after being together for over 10 years. “For the first three or four months after it ended, it was pretty rough,” says Schwartz. “I don’t know if anybody was sure we would continue doing the band. But then we sorted it out slowly and we just all wanted to get back to work.” As Schwartz was processing the breakup, he and Wichlin took time to finish building their own recording studio inside a Philly vinyl pressing plant. While their last LP had been written and recorded entirely remotely, this new space allowed the band to be in the same room together and flesh out the songs in person this January: an experience that proved to be both productive and cathartic. The unpredictable and abrasive lead single “Tapeworm” originally came from a skeleton of an old demo that the band reworked in the studio. The track bursts at the seams with screeching guitars and Schwartz’s bloodcurdling yells. “We just wanted to make an overtly heavy track,” says Schwartz. Working and recording in real-time allowed the band not to overthink things in the studio. “We just did it rather than have conversations that would have taken probably weeks in the past to decide what to do,” says Schwartz. “Now that we can record in the same room, we can just do it, discuss it and then figure it out right there. It was a lot easier than sending emails back and forth.” While SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE splits up writing and vocal duties between their three members, both Schwartz and Ravede penned lyrics that primarily dealt with the dissolution of their romantic partnership. “This past year, the lyrics that I was writing, and I think that Zack was writing too, were about our breakup,” says Ravede. The moody closer “natural devotion 2,” which serves as a sequel to one of their songs from 2016. Underneath the yearning and heartbreak in the track, is a bit of sweetness and understanding, especially when they harmonize, “In the stillness, I’ll remember how you held me when we were together.” i’m so lucky is the start of a new era for SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE: it’s a marker of their own growth and a hint of what’s yet to come. “This EP feels like a really good transition between ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH and the newer material that we’ve been working on,” says Wichlin. Between the propulsive and frenetic opener “human debenture” and the dread-inducing “really happening,” which is primarily sung by Wichlin, the entire four-song release feels like it captures all sides of the band. These tracks feel alive and unfussy: a document of a band in control and pushing themselves even further. “We’ve been trying to make some of the newer stuff less maximalist and just focus on what we can accomplish live,” says Schwartz. “It’s not that these songs are simpler: They’re just different and have more space, more room to breathe.”

Shannon, an actor/musician known best for his film/series/stage work, and Narducy (Bob Mould Band, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, Verböten, Split Single) have been collaborating for the last eleven years, playing entire albums by some of their favorite artists such as Neil Young, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, The Smiths, and T. Rex at various Chicago clubs. In July 2023, they performed Murmur at Chicago’s Metro to a full house, with a guest appearance from R.E.M.’s own Mike Mills. Initially planned as a one-off performance to honor both the album and venue’s 40th anniversary, the show’s success inspired Shannon and Narducy to take the project on the road. “I had never done a tour before. Jason nudged me after the Murmur set in Chicago at Metro. Now it’s all I want to do,” Shannon says. “I’m happy this one is twice as long. The last one was too short. This music is beyond comprehension and I cherish every chance I get to deliver it, even second generation. R.E.M. means the world to me. And this band led by Jason is stone cold ridiculous. Even if I never walked onstage, you would get a hell of a show.” Narducy adds: “After Michael and I took the band on the road playing Murmur, we discussed possibly trying something again in 2025. It will be the 40th anniversary of Fables Of The Reconstruction so we will open with that album, in sequence. Then we will dig deep into the R.E.M. catalog to round out the performance. Each show will have unique setlists. We love celebrating the music of this great band.

As she watched friends skim stones on Brighton Beach, Paris Paloma felt energy shift. Like heat returning to numb fingertips, life felt like it was taking shape again after a long period of personal trauma. With a diaphanous sheath of lyrics in mind, she went to Bergen, Norway to work on new music. On the three days of the year that it didn’t rain in Europe’s wettest city, among the silvery lakes and mountain peaks, life grew ever brighter. “the warmth” was formed. “I ate up all the light, it shone through my teeth, I tasted sunbeams emanating from me… it can’t hurt me… now the warmth is returning,” she sings in unfurling harmonies, spectral with full-bodied pop, a determined percussive march building like a personal artillery. This emotional arc would be core to Paris Paloma’s debut album, cacophony. The Derbyshire-born musician gave the world “labour” in 2023. It was the first song she’d ever fully recorded in a proper studio – early releases like “narcissus” in 2020, 2021 EP cemeteries and socials, and 2023’s “notre dame” were produced in her own bedroom or others’. But early clips she posted with stolen lyrics of “labour” to TikTok had already garnered a curious audience. Its journal-like lyricism and incisive strain of compelling, dark folk-pop skewered the knots of women’s emotional labour, and it immediately became a rallying cry worldwide upon official release. The track broke over 100 million streams on Spotify, cracked the Official UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Chart, and soundtracked tens of thousands of TikToks. It spurred on sold-out shows around the UK, and Paris, armed with a compact slew of songs, travelled to the US and Australia for the festival circuit. “I matured because of ‘labour’,” Paris explains. “As a young artist you’re both protected and limited – you’re putting songs that are so intimate into a void. It’s made me more considerate about how vulnerable these songs are going to be.” Such vulnerability can be difficult to confront, and all the more to articulate as art, “but I feel very held by my listeners,” Paris says. This symbiotic care between artist and listener is innate within Paris’s devoted fanbase. She’s cultivated a community both online and off: on TikTok, her 400K followers send her videos (of thoughts, song snippets, and tour moments) into six- figure views. Fan-made art and videos analysing her lyrics span social media. She’s also crowdsourced the voices of hundreds of fans for a new version of “labour” to be released. These are roots laid deep, as Paris gains wider recognition from NME to Billboard, as YouTube’s Trending Artist on the Rise and a Breakthrough Artist to Watch 2024 by Amazon. A graduate of fine art from Goldsmiths University (her first tattoo was a tribute to female surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun), Paris’s creative mediums have influenced each other since she first started writing songs at age 14. Her early releases’ visual identities are crafted from her own fantasy drawings. Now, cacophony is inspired by the creation that comes out of chaos – in 15 tracks, we’re shown Paris as an evocative lyricist who constellates human experiences of grief, love, patriarchy, and trauma with Greek mythology, fantasy, and the literary gothic. The album name is inspired by Stephen Fry’s Mythos, ruminating on the creation myth. “From this chaotic cosmic yawn, creation sprang forth,” Paris explains, “so this is a collection that makes sense of the overwhelming space of my mind where my anxiety, my OCD, and trauma processing lives.” Songwriting is a catharsis and coping mechanism, which she uses to articulate her struggles in real time. The sprawling metaphor of chaos to creation knits the album’s universe together. “As I began to combine songs, I could see my struggles, the fantasy, the ‘hero’s journey’.” Paris found tracks incidentally informing each other, and so the album has been curated rather than conceptualised to find a natural rhythm akin to Greek theatre staging – or “a quest”, as Paris puts it. “I love linear storytelling, following the protagonist inflected by a journey. Looking back, I can track my own wellbeing, my growth.” Album opener “my mind (now)” and closer “yeti” are opposites: “We start with the turmoil, open up the chaos, scramble back to redemption and healing.” She describes her songwriting as undisciplined, but always begins with lyrics – a starting couplet or image to elucidate. Melody follows. “My mind has not been silent since you,” she sings vaporously on “my mind (now)”. A haunting fugue draws you in: “What did I do wrong”, across skittering percussion and a glut of trumpets, lanced by crunching guitars and a piercing feral scream. She flexes her songwriting dichotomy, weaving the personal with haunting symbolism – a striking image of strawberry picking while someone else readies their cruelty. “boys, bugs, and men” draws on men’s sadistic behaviours, using natural world imagery to unspool the banalities of a patriarchy that hurts both genders. “I love the feral, feminine aspects of my music,” says Paris. “Being unapologetically vulnerable feels wild – it's breaking down boundaries, a return to something primal.” “bones on the beach” is a “turning point”. “I wrote it at a time when I was coming out of survival mode,” she explains. “It starts from exhaustion and wanting the world to stop asking things of you. And as it progresses, there’s a realisation – you will find peace in life when you start living and taking care of yourself.” Three album tracks – “escape pod”, “last woman on earth”, “bones on the beach” – are her ‘apocalypse trio’. “When it felt like my world was ending,” she says. “last woman on earth” is an emotive, upward contour, about coping with and confronting the ways her voice has been taken away. She leans on dark metaphors to find light. “Women’s wishes for what happens after they die have been consistently dishonoured: from Anne Boleyn to Marilyn Monroe. It's the ultimate show of disrespect,” she says. “It becomes an uplifting point – it shows my growing belief in my own agency.” “triassic love song” is an aching ode to external love returning to her life, imagery inspired by an archaeological discovery of two fossils of different animal species intertwined. “It’s a tender narrative marker. Love was becoming a healing force, but I was conscious of an end being nigh.” She matches this with expansive productions – dramatic instrumentation, folk sensibilities, pop at its most cavernous. It makes sense for someone who first picked up a guitar at age 13, enamoured by Ed Sheeran, Bon Iver, and the eclectic sounds of her upbringing from the Motown and jazz her mother played. “my mind (now)” was especially fun to build. Paris recalls: “I didn’t want any structure that could be a ‘life raft’. It has to almost overwhelm you, then pull back. You're a tiny raft in the ocean, you're surely going to go under – but you don't.” After building a song out on vocals and guitar, her notes app and songbook, she makes a playlist to convey the sonic palette. “as good a reason” was inspired by Alt-J and early Hozier; “labour” from Glass Animals and Katarina Gimon’s compositions. “I don't know what genre I am. I don’t give it much thought. The second I do, I'll start limiting myself.” The album spans the breadth of Paris’s vocal range. “my mind (now)” is the first time she’s screamed on record. On “his land” – a melancholic offering about isolation, inspired by the reduction of British public lands – she reaches her lowest tone. In the “last woman on earth” bridge, she belts her highest. “It was really hard to get up there. My songs, age 20, were mumbly and soft. In part it was a tone thing, and in part confidence. Now I write songs and push myself to grow toward it, as opposed to making everything sound the same.” Worldbuilding is cinched by visual aesthetic – Paris gravitates towards the eerie feminine fashion of Bora Aksu and Simone Rocha, and is styled for stage by Leith Clark. If each song could have a music video, she would. The striking visual for “my mind (now)”, directed by Matt Grass, is darkly fantastical. “I want everyone to see my musical world as I do,” she says. Live performance is vital to her artistry, and Paris has sold out four headline London shows. At every gig, her lyrics are sung directly back at her. “One of the reasons you write is to feel heard,” she says. “It's an audience that wants to know more.” The intimacy of the music remains steadfast as stages get bigger. This summer, she’s keeping up opening for Maisie Peters and will embark on festival season, as well as a UK and European tour. cacophony is “a stage backdrop”, against which all future music will be positioned. “I’ve chronically released singles and been quite nomadic. I’m excited to set the scene for my world.” She’s already working on the threads of her next album, a Paris Paloma tapestry in motion.

Evoking the ocean and guided by the spirit of travel, The Hip Abduction pilot a sonic expedition past genre barriers. The band is the moniker for singer/songwriter David New who writes and produces music in between travel excursions and touring. Live shows morph into a versatile musical ensemble consisting of Matt Poynter (drums), Chris Powers (bass), Justino Walker (guitar, vocals, ngoni), and Cody Moore (keys, sax); each of whom have a mutual appreciation for African (Afrobeat/Soukous/Malian Blues), Reggae, and American (jam/electronic/indie) music. Since 2012, the band has played almost every noteworthy music festival in the country, has landed major TV/Movie syncs and Sirius Xm radio spins, have 750k mo listeners on Spotify, have provided direct cross country tour support for artists like Dirty Heads, Galactic, Slightly Stoopid, The Revivalists, and who’s highly energized live show have landed the 5-piece a sizable fanbase across the US and Canada

Palace are a band familiar with being tossed on the tides of life. Originally school friends in Dorset, singer Leo Wyndham, guitarist Rupert Turner and drummer Matt Hodges began playing together in 2012 (alongside early bassist Will Dorey) after fate had brought them all separately to London. Holing up in an artistic multi-band hub called The Arch in Tottenham, and inspired by an array of artists encompassing Nick Drake, Cocteau Twins, John Fahey, Neil Young, Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, they conjured an enthralling maelstrom of sound and emotion – equal parts intricate alt- rock, dark blues, glacial melody, cosmic echo and exotic experiment - and became an almost instant streaming hit, garnering over a million plays for early EPs Lost In The Night and Chase The Light. Their debut album on Fiction records, So Long Forever (2016), trawled the wreckage of Wyndham’s shattered psyche following the death of a family member and the break-up of both his parents’ and his own relationships, and chimed with the times; the sumptuous “Live Well” reached 100 million streams alone. “It's been an amazing marker for our band,” Leo says. “It resonated with people in a very profound way.” 2019’s second album Life After took a more optimistic slant: embracing “the hopefulness within the idea of grief and life after, growing again” it drew Palace’s fanbase ever closer, particularly with seven-minute radio favourite “Heaven Up There”, a celestial ice storm of a song which held the whole record together and really landed with people thanks to its enveloping portrayal of loss and recovery. As Covid hit and the community at The Arch collapsed amid “a lot of politics and weird stuff”, Palace shifted HQ to a windowless space in Manor House and, after brushing up some demos for 2020’s well-received Someday, Somewhere EP, recorded their third album Shoals (2022) remotely over lockdown. Coloured with more electronic textures, Shoals saw Palace’s world darken again, confronting the fear, isolation, anxiety and self-analysis of the pandemic era and trying to map potential paths out of the woods. The record was fanfared with a series of singles (Gravity, Lover (Don’t Let Me Down), Fade and Where Sky Becomes Sea), and as Palace lay plans for their fourth album they decided to lean further into this more sporadic creative approach. “Re-recruiting the producer of their debut album, Adam Jaffery – now a friend of the band with whom they felt they had unfinished musical business – Palace booked regular recording sessions at Deptford’s Unwound Studios between October 2022 and September 2023. Ahead of each session they’d write five or six songs, with the aim of recording four, serving each song as they came and finding fresh excitement in the chemistry, trust, friendship and creative collaboration built into the process. “We were at a point where it was quite blank canvas,” says Leo, “we thought it'd be a nice approach to do it as we go along and see how it unfolds.” Thus, they hoped to capture a year in the life of Palace. Not realising how challenging and significant it would be. While writing the first batch of songs, Leo and his partner suffered a late miscarriage. The experience left the band’s chief song-writer bereft and adrift. “I felt a hollowness and emptiness for a long time when it happened,” he says. “There was just a thick layer of indescribable pain and confusion that we experienced for a long time, vibrating in the silences. It was like a bomb had gone off and the explosion had destroyed any sense of time and present journey. It became us for a long time.” Palace’s fourth album Ultrasound, then, naturally became an open diary of Leo’s year-long struggle from devastation to deliverance. “It was incredibly hard to comprehend what had happened, how to deal with it and how to move forward,” he says. “The album is the journey of that absolutely earth-shattering experience - starting with a loss, then a period of processing, and then finally acceptance, release and growth. And being in awe of women within that. Their dignity, strength and courage in how they can deal with these things that feel beyond a man.” Album opener “When Everything Was Lost”, chilling ozone rock with a hint of Bon Iver, captures what Leo calls “that initial bombshell feeling” when “suddenly everything’s on the floor…you’re all at sea for a long time, figuring out which way is up and which way is down.” “I dreamt it was different so much I was different,” he sings, hoping that “I’ll see you in another time” and bluntly concluding “everything is fucked”. “Son” is a more placid emotional swell, reflecting not only on Leo’s own loss but those of his friends too: “heaven will never be empty, strange the way the silence grows,” he muses. From there, Ultrasound picks its way through the wreckage, seeking light. The languid and lustrous pop-gaze trio of “Bleach”, “Nightmares & Ice Cream” and “Rabid Dog” explore the fractures that test a grief-stricken relationship and the difficulty of bearing witness to each other's pain. But while loss is an agonizingly solitary experience“ the hallucinogenic “Nightmares…” was based on a dream Leo had about seeing his partner in the afterlife: “It was a very beautiful abstract thing that we were together and there was this total acceptance of what had happened and it was euphoric,” he says. At the album’s core sit three songs of support and consolidation. “Make You Proud” is about wanting to be the best version of yourself out of love for another. . The soulful “Inside My Chest” concerns the realisation that there are quarters of the heart that are forever reserved for those we’ve lost and that it’s okay for a partner not to fill the space. And “Love Is A Precious Thing”, the album’s melodic centrepiece built on krautrock rhythms and vaporous high-wire guitar lines, paints love as something capricious - at times precious and fragile, at others “an oblivion” and “a vicious thing, blood in the biting wind” – but concludes “We could be anyone if you love me like I you”. “We had to rebuild ourselves independently,” Leo says. “And I think we’re stronger for it. The album’s final stretch marks a more reflective period. The pastoral, Gallic-tinged “Say The Words” acknowledges the societal pressures on women to raise families and their resilience in the struggles of motherhood. “A miscarriage in itself is a female experience and as a man, in a way, you're this onlooker, and that's what makes it so confusing,” Leo says. “I have this huge level of respect and understanding and awe for women for that strength.” “How Far We’ve Come” confronts aging, mortality and our shifting ambitions along the way. And while “All We’ve Ever Wanted” revisits the rawness of Leo’s anguish in its images of forest fires and quicksand, his desire for fatherhood still burning, the epic closing “Goodnight Farewell”, sonically corroded, beaten but standing proud, finds him finally attaining a sense of peace. “That’s about transitioning to a new phase,” he explains. “It’s saying goodbye to this life-changing year, saying goodbye to former versions of ourselves and what would have been a child as well. It's that transcendence of suddenly discovering that we can move forward into something that feels lighter and optimistic

“Richman is one of America’s most unique and dynamic songwriters…” - Nashville Scene “Richman didn’t need much else besides a beat to work his magic.” - New York Daily News “Buy tickets early. Buy tickets often. This is just good general life advice, but even more so when you’re talking about Jonathan Richman. Don’t get denied at the door, don’t leave things up to chance: You will regret it.” - Nashville Scene “Rhymes worthy of Ogden Nash.” - The New York Times “Richman has spent decades removing barriers between himself and his audience, cultivating an intimacy that is almost extinct in modern music.”- Nashville Scene “The music we're doing now works well in quiet places like theaters and performing art centers. We still don't use a program or a set list so we don't know what we'll do until we do it. Please do not expect old songs. Many singers my age do a retrospective; this show is not like that. It's mostly stuff made up in the last 3 and 4 years. Some of the songs presented might be in different languages; this is not to be esoteric or clever, it's because the different languages help me express different feelings sometimes. One last thing, my idea of a good show has nothing to do with applause. It's about if all the songs I sang that night were ones that I felt.” - Jonatha

Through balancing even the most extreme dynamics, The Plot In You consistently overturn and upend expectations. On any given track, it might seem like they’re about to go one way, but the band will turn on a dime and shift course before the crowd can even catch a breath. This uncanny element of surprise has entrenched the gold-selling Ohio quartet—Landon Tewers [vocals], Josh Childress [guitar], Ethan Yoder [bass], and Michael Cooper [drums] — on the cutting edge of rock music. Whether it be threads of alternative, electronic, pop, or R&B, nothing is off limits, and everything is fair game for their creative process. That process has continued to morph. Following a series of fan-favorite releases, the band made major waves with DISPOSE [2018]. “FEEL NOTHING” surged on social media as a viral phenomenon, generating hundreds of millions of streams and picking up a gold certification in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The musicians only maintained this momentum with Swan Song in 2021. Hysteria rated it “9-out-of-10”. Simultaneously, they sold out shows coast-to-coast. During 2023, the band kickstarted another era with Vol. 1. “Divide” having generated 16 million Spotify streams and counting followed by “Left Behind”, exploding to the tune of 31 million Spotify streams with no signs of slowing down. Upon the arrival of “Forgotten”, Revolver praised it among the “6 Best New Songs Right Now.” The Plot In You's Vol. 2 EP is a powerful showcase of the band's evolution, blending raw emotion with polished musicality and stands as a testament to The Plot In You's growth and artistic maturity, captivating listeners with its intense yet introspective narratives with tracks “Closure”, “Don’t Look Away”, and “All That I Can Give” further solidifying their place as one of the genre's most compelling acts. Now with the impending arrival of their new EP, Vol. 3, the band is set to captivate fans once again. Featuring three compelling tracks, the lead single "Been Here Before" explores the emotional turbulence of relationships, weaving a narrative of enduring the highs and lows. "Spare Me" delves into the heavy burden of societal pressures and the palpable guilt that comes from feeling helpless in the face of overwhelming news. "Pretend" offers a raw look at the world's current state, channeling a sense of disillusionment and examining the disengagement of looking away from the tragedies that are happening daily. Vol. 3 promises to be a powerful addition to the band’s discography, reflecting their knack for tackling profound themes with sincerity and intensity

Despite coming up in Australia, indie rock band, Last Dinosaurs would say they're an international enterprise – and they’ve got a track record to prove it. “Australians have a natural urge to explore,” remarks Lachlan Caskey, which might be why their energetic sound has resonated with fans all around the world. Together with his brother Sean Caskey and Michael Sloane, Last Dinosaurs make up the quintessential touring band, having played sold out headlining shows and festivals across UK, Europe, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and the Americas. The success of studio albums, Million Years, Wellness, and most recently, Yumeno Garden, have truly taken them around the world and back. In addition to headlining tours, the band has opened for international acts such as Foals, Matt & Kim, Los Valentinos and Foster the People, playing festivals including Splendour In the Grass, Laneway, Falls Festival, and Field Day to name a few. Despite coming so far already, Last Dinosaurs is only just getting started.

Stereophonics are one of the UK's most enduring and most loved bands with Kelly Jones continuing to cement his place amongst the great British songwriters. Stereophonics have developed a sound that is like few others. Their achievements are many. The band have now achieved 8x UK #1 albums, 12x UK top 10 albums, 11x UK top 10 singles including the UK #1 single 'Dakota,' sold over 10 million albums, 1.5 billion global streams and 5x BRIT award nominations with 1x BRIT award win. Their hits collection, 'Decade In The Sun,' sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK alone and certified 5x Platinum, while in 2022, on their last UK arena tour and Cardiff Stadium headline shows, they sold over 235,000 tickets