BUMPER DOUBLE ISSUE!
ST. VI NC ENT
SU N DAR A KARMA
DECLAN MCKE N N A
TH E BIG MOON
TH E M AG IC GA NG
THIS MONTH...
CONTENTS ‘N’ STUFF
EDITOR’S LETTER HIYA! “IT’S BEEN THE BEST YEAR” P4 THE BIG MOON
“LET’S SEE HOW FAR WE CAN TAKE THIS JOKE!” P56 THE MAGIC GANG
“WE’RE VERY, VERY AMBITIOUS” P44 PALE WAVES
STEPHEN ACKROYD Editor / @stephenackroyd
“WE’VE TICKED A LOT OFF THE BUCKET LIST” P32 SUNDARA KARMA
“IT WAS JUST ME AND FIVE OF MY BEST PALS” P12 MARIKA HACKMAN
“I MEAN, LIFE IS RIDICULOUS” P20 ST VINCENT
“I’M A BIT OF A FUCKING EMO KID, YOU KNOW?”
“TOAST HAS BEEN A BIG THING FOR ME THIS YEAR”
P74 FICKLE FRIENDS
P40 DECLAN MCKENNA
CONTENTS
“IT’S CRAZY TO SAY THAT I HAVE FANS” P72 SIGRID
AND NOW, THE END IS NEAR... Yep, 2017 is coming to its end, which means two things. Firstly, everyone starts making lists. Lists of everything. Favourite albums, best bangers, greatest gigs - you mention it, you’ll see it. We’re no different. In this issue we’re running you through some of our fave moments of the past twelve months, including fifty records we love. We’re not saying there are none better - that would require something far more far-reaching, obviously - but we love them all. Then there’s the other stuff - the tips for the year ahead. We’ve got that covered, with our 10 things you need to be looking forward to in 2018. Which, yes, actually ends up being more than 10 things, but if you weren’t on board with our ‘pack it in’ content strategy, you’d have buggered off long ago, right? Merry Xmas, and a happy New Year!
“WE GOT CUSSED OUT A LOT” P50 KING NUN
P4 UPDATE P14 CONNECTION P15 CALENDAR P18 BEST OF 2017 P44 2018 PREVIEW P84 REVIEWS P86 ANY OTHER QUESTIONS
DORK
Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Events Liam James Ward Additional Design: Martin Crandon Contributors Ben Jolley, Jake Hawkes, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jessica Goodman, Jessie Atkinson, Liam Konemann, Lily Beckett Photographers Alyssa Gafkjen, Chiara Ceccaioni, Corinne Cumming, Jason MacDonald, Nolan Knight, Phil Smithies, Poppy Marriott, Richard Johnson, Rob Loud, Roy Rossovich, Sarah Louise Bennett Illustrators Rhi Lee, Russell Taysome P U B L I S H E D F RO M
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All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally. DOWN WITH BORING
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UPDATE IF IT’S NOT IN HERE, IT’S NOT HAPPENING. OR WE FORGOT ABOUT IT. ONE OR THE OTHER.
HO H O H O, IT’S TIME FOR TH E B I G M O O N ’S P R E S E N T SWA P AS T H E FO U RSO M E TA K E PA RT I N A V E RY S P EC I A L S EC R ET SA N TA . WORDS: PH OTOS:
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ats, jumpers an d bundles of ch eer, Jules, Cee, Soph and Fern are huddled around the Christmas tree, trying to untangle fairy lights and find the br oken bulb. “I di d it!” shouts Fern tri umphantly. “I saved Christmas with my tiny spanne r!” Once the band have decided on who’s wearing which piece of festive headwear, they settle down to exchange gifts .
XMAS 2017
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your drink. An d Fern always draws elephants, so.” “I do. It’s the on ly thing I can draw. Plus an elepha nt never forget s. I always forget , so we’re the op posite.” “And they’re ve getarians,” adds Soph. “Are they?” sta rts Jules, before answering her own question. “Obviously elep hants don’t ea t animals. Can yo u imagine it pi cking up a monkey an d eating it? It wouldn’t happ en,” she contin ues. “I bet they eat little bugs thou gh. They wouldn’t say no to a lit tle cockroach.” “They’re too ge ntle,” reasons Fern. “They are gent le, right? Wait . I’m not going too off topic, sorry.”
Secret Santa is a Christmas tra dition. You get given the name of so meone, you buy that pe rson a present within the £5 spendi ng limit, someo ne else buys you a present, and you all keep it secret Soph was goin until everyone g to spend he has unwrapped th r £5 on a pint, before eir gift. Happy Jules explains: tidings all around. “I was thinking you co uld buy macar oni cheese.” Jules unwraps “You could!” ex a light-up phot claims Cee. “£ oslash-Christm 4.95 in Pret. Did yo as-card holder u actually go , depending on to any sh ops, Jules? Whe the time of ye n did you com ar. Fern gets a wo e up with that idea oden elephant ?” and a Queen of Aw “She’s very ea esomeness m sy to bu ug y . fo Ce gets a Winnie r, but it was e the first thing The Pooh book I thought of.” of wisdom, and So “I love your br ph spends a go ain ,” says Cee. od ten minutes un “It’s a good br wrapping a sh ain,” agrees Fe oe-box sized present rn. “I just hate wh before finally en you have to getting to a matchboxbuy something ch sized parcel wi ea p, an d you don’t th a folded up £5 no know what yo te inside. Ever u’r e going to get yone is on the floor yet, and the pe in hysterics. rson doesn’t wa nt it. And also, I th ought it would “I’m going to sa be funny. There wa y my present is sn ’t a great thought from Fern,” ventures process behind Jules. “I mean, it,” explains Ju it’s a process of elim les. “Half the joy is ination really,” opening the pr she replies. “We ta esent. I played pass-th lked about ho e-parcel with w Cee got me mine; myself,” starts you got that fo So ph , be r Soph fore Cee adds and Soph said “And us. And th : in the Winnie en yourself ag The Pooh book that ain. So many layers.” it was from he r, so yours probably “I was worried was from me.” it wasn’t goin “Oh, I didn’t ac g to be enough,” admits tually do that. Jules. “But it wa I just know you like s gr ea t. I loved how shopping in Ti you thought th ger.” “If you ever wa gift was a little e nt to find som flannel.” eone a present, just go “And Tupperwa to Tiger,” Fern re,” beams Soph tells us with a know . “But I like Tupp ing nod. “I got erware, and fla that for Jules ‘cos sh nnels are cool for wa e takes good ph sh in g. I got Cee th otos and I thought book ‘cos it’s cu e it would be ni te, and I though ce to put them up. It t Cee would like it be would be nice cause Winnie above your bed. I thou The Pooh is cute. Th ght it would be is isn’t specifica nice and sentim lly ab ou t you Cee, but ental. That’s m it’s e in a good toilet a nutshell. Sent book. One to ke imental. And m ep on the shelf odest.” behind the loo. ” “I was looking Everyone is qu for a nice coffe ick to ask Soph e mug for Fern,” starts if it’s a book from her Cee. “Then I sa own bathroom w the Queen of Awes but no, “I got it from a sh omeness one, op. Plus, it’s ni which isn’t particula ce to get little bits rly nice but sh of wisdom fro e is the Queen of Awes m a bear.” “A fictional be omeness, and ar as we I ll, lik the fact that on which I so e often do,” grin ce you’ve finish s Cee. ed your drink, it sa ys “Yeah” at th e bottom. You wa It’s no surprise ke up; you’ve that The Big M already achieved som oon can turn a silly ething by finish gift exchange ing into something wholesome an d
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For your BFF who’s witnes, at your very sed you but always s worst ticks by your side BE YO NC É - LE M ON AD E It’s gotta be, rig ht? It’s like th e perfect album for that . I feel like we ’ve all stuck by Beyoncé, an d for much of this record, she’s really ve nting a lot of her worst moments. It’s so powerful, an d I’d wanna give back som e of that powe r to my friend and be like, ‘You know what, I’ve got your back - we’ve got Be yoncé’s back, and I’ve got yo ur back.’ 12
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For that one who only listefriend bands no-on ns to e’s ever heard of SI VU - SW EE T SW EE T SI LE NT I don’t wanna offend him by saying no one’s ever hear d of it, but it’s a fucking great record. He ’s a friend of m ine, and it’s an amazing re cord, but unde r this title, I feel a bit bad, because peop le have heard of him! He’s pr etty lowkey, bu t it’s quality. Yeah? Put it on record: ‘Not m eant in an offensive way.’ It’s his second record, and it’s so beautif ul.
For your you impressiona nger, ble sis
ter
BE AC H HO US E - TE EN DR EA M One of my all-t ime favourite records, I haven’t stop ped listening to it since I found it when I was I don’t kn ow, eighteen? I ju st think it’s ve ry chilled; I can imagine just sitting ba ck and listening to it like I did, and it’s ki that teen angs t you’d want fro nda got m had a little sis ter, this’d be on it. If I e that I’d be like… get it.
MARIKA’S
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STRUGG LING W ITH WH CHRIST AT TO G MAS? W ET THE E TOOK FAM TH TO ROU MARIKA IS G H TRA HACKM D E EAST T AN DOW SUGG ES O N TIONS. PICK O UT SOM WORDS E : L I LY
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arika Hackman sums up saying that th 2017 in three e album’s help words: “A ed them in so ways and mad mixed bag”. Fr me e them feel m om her ore comfortabl with who they standpoint as e are. That’s been a musician, amazing.” she’s accompl ished a Touring North considerable “I’ve had a reco America with amount. FATH ER JO HN The Big Moon rd out, got a ne has been a mom M IS TY - PU RE w band, toured America, play entous highlig He CO M ED Y ’s a classic croo ed the first sh ht year, and marks of the ner, I feel like ows for this album, so it’s an important a lot of m um s m ig been an excit ht have a crus juncture in Marika’s career ing time.” h on him. He’s . “It was the fir very charismat st time I’d done a headline tour ic, his music’s The parts that . I’d been out very, kind of, funny. The th made her year er M ly e ar ric wi ling a few year th Laura s aren’t super expressly ‘mixed’ materia s ago which wa th ‘out er e’ ab ou lised independ t st different kind uff mums prob s a very ently from he successes, and of tour - we we ably don’t wanna hear, bu r re on a bus, she astutely ac wi t th ag a ai bi n g ve gr ry sarcastic an knowledges oup of us. But the broader pl representative d this time was ain of 2017. “O just me and Th of day-to-day bviously in th world, a lot of e Big Moon, pl life. And he’s just got some e stuff’s been go us en th go e gi od sound neer, driving ou tu ne s, ing on, which so kind of underm I fe mums would el like rselves across ines [her acco of America.” like him! the whole mplishments]. So it’s been th is real juxtapos ition between my life, and ev erything else The trek from that’s gone on West Coast to .” East over two weeks in the su Marika’s second mmer happily proved to be an album, ‘I’m No ad venture rather t Your Man’, was released than an ordeal in June, and sh be . “It would’ve en th e wo e notes how rld’s worst tour her fanbase ha - it should’ve s evolved since been really re she made the ally hard.” Desp move away fro m the predom ite there bein “no days off an g inantly folky sounds of her d endless drive debu s”, Marika fortuitously co “They just seem t album, ‘We Slept at Last’. nfirms that th e tour was “all to be a lot mor totally worth it.” e lively, you know? Like at shows they sin g the words ba and dance. It se ck ems like they’re What made it so wonderful? all quite a confident bunc “The shows we h, which is nice full, the crowds re .” This likely ha something to were amazing, s do with the ra and then it was just me an m bu tongue-in-che nctious and d five of my be ek attitudes th st pals. It was really, just drea JO AN NA NE W at underpin he a newest record my experience.” SO M - TH E M r . IL K- EY ED TE ND ER When asked wh I mean, probab Its lead single et her she could ly ‘Have One On ‘Boyfriend’ moc share any of her plans for 20 Me’ rather than ‘The Milk ks the obliviousness 18, Marika look -Eyed Tender’, of a man who but this is s la sh ug th ift hs e y . on an ‘U e m d remains they’ve got he m, any I can sh unthreatened re and Joanna are? Actually… by his girlfriend don’t?” Dissat Newsom’s a fu I ’s affair with isfied with he another woman cking babe. M r own deflectio , and the them uch the she quickly co same reasons n, es least ncedes and of ambiguously co as Father John fers up some nveyed on this proposals. “I wi Misty for th e m um s, tra I think Joanna to fans openin ll be touring; ck have led Newsom just g up to the sin I’ll be playing festivals, I’ll al fucking genius a ger. “I’ve also had a lot of pe so probably be , an d on e of my favour ople talking to making my next record. Th ar tists. I feel lik ite me about thei sexuality and os e e ar da e the things I ds would appr r stuff like that doing.” P her - my dad wo should be eciate which is cool, uld appreciate her, she’s unique, she ki nd of pushes m usic in quite a strange way, and she’s just a total babe. Dads would be down with that .
For your Mum
For your Dad
For that suc cousin who ycessful always gett ou’re compared toing M AR IK A HA CK M AN - I” M YO UR M AN Can I just pick my record? Sh ould I do it? It’d be like sayin g, ‘Everyone al ways says you’re so grea t, you’re doing this, you’re doing that, bu t this is what I was doing last year. I mad e this, have a listen to it’.
For your eld grandmotheerly r LA NA DE L RE Y - LU ST FO R LI FE It’s timeless, bu t it’s still mod ern, and it resonates right now. I think it’ d be a nice way of approa ching that age gap, and the differences in what’s going on culturally. But also being like, ‘I think yo u’ll dig this, Grandma. This music’s still co ol.’
For your cru sh ALVVAY S - AN TI SO CI AL IT ES I think Alvvay s is just one of those bands; I find them re ally romantic. This’d be my subtle hint, lik e, ‘I fancy you, this is what I’ve been liste ning to while I’ve been dreaming abou t you’. DOWN WITH BORING
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S T .
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I N ANY Y E AR THA T S T VINCE N T R E LEASES A T G I U C O B C
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LBU E’S CH ILL EIN NED OF ; A K I
M , A A N E G A T H N N S
C E N D S E I E A
S U PERSTA R O F T H E HIGH E S T O R DER.
WORDS : A L I S H U TLER. PHOTO S : S A R A H LOUISE
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BENNETT.
THE BEST OF 2017
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t Vincent’s ‘MASSEDUCTION’ captures Annie Clark at her most confident; every brightly coloured corner swells with an assured grin. She’s always stood proud and unblinking, but her fifth album - all capital letters and neon shine - comes with more belief and more desire for the spotlight. “Haven’t I earnt it?” she asks, deadly serious but quickly turning to laughter. And of course, she has. Her self-titled fourth album, secured, underlined and drew little fireworks around her talent as both artist and entertainer. Building worlds and pulling apart constructs, it took her from indie darling to gleaming superstar, via a Grammy win. ‘MASSEDUCTION’ channels the same spirit but reinvents the box before leaving it behind. Which might be why earlier this year, Annie launched the record with a series of interviews in a large, pink wooden box within a warehouse. “Well, I wanted to give people an experience they wouldn’t forget,” offers Annie. Today, a day off from tour and following a wonderfully brilliant show at London’s Brixton Academy, we’re in a hotel room. “You may very well forget being in this ugly hotel room with track lighting and me, half lying down on a couch,” she explains. “We have to work hard to make this remarkable. It’s very similar to a million other interviews you’ve done in hotels with whomever so if we’re going to do it, why not make it an experience?” That attitude drives everything St. Vincent is. “If you’re going to do it, why not make it fun,” she asks with a grin. “Why not?” This new era is “set alongside a very real, very raw look at power, control, love and sex”, and sees Annie sit somewhere between shredding rock star and sparkling pop icon. There’s a sprawling artistry to everything she puts her name to, an intimate understanding to the secrets and revelations she shares. “I don’t know where I fit,” she admits. “We’re super postmodern as a culture. We’re all Tumblr upon Tumblr pages of references, and I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about where I fit in,” she continues, before pausing and thinking for a second just to be sure. “I don’t. Because I don’t know the answer. I’ve only ever made the music that I thought was the best thing I could make at the time.” ‘MASSEDUCTION’, all clear cut synth and lack of distortion, was a twist on the pencil drawn next step for St. Vincent, but she didn’t do it to play with your expectations. “I don’t presume to know what people think
enough to go, ‘I’m going to really toy with them like a cat and one of those cat toys’. I’m not really thinking about that very much, if at all.” And anyway, “There’s a lot of guitar on the record. The first three songs have guitar solos. Solos! Like, solos. Boom, boom, boom. Come on. They might be solos in a Fripp & Eno ‘Evening Star’ way, but it’s still a guitar solo.” Despite the distance of having a character to hide behind, “for me, the record is very first person. I’m not necessarily going, ‘I wonder what it looks like from the other side’, but it’s really personal.” Still, St. Vincent isn’t alone on the record. “The song ‘MASSEDUCTION’ is the thesis of the album, and you meet all the characters on the record in that song. There is a narrative, but I wouldn’t be able to necessarily say this is act 1, act 2 and act 3. There’s an intuitive through-line. An order.” It’s not so much a journey with introduction, conflict and resolution, more a progressive conversation. ‘MASSEDUCTION’ looks at power and works out what can and can’t be controlled. As a concept, it’s something that was maybe worked out in real time alongside recording the record, but Annie doesn’t really remember. “I don’t remember most of my life,” she admits, perhaps because she’s always looking towards the next thing. At its core though, ‘MASSEDUCTION’ is a record about love. “It’s an incredibly heartfelt record. It wasn’t difficult to write. It was difficult to live,” she smiles. “I mean, it is difficult to write, of course it is.” As the saying goes, “I hate writing. I love having written. It’s arduous and painful, and sometimes things all happen like clicking your fingers, and sometimes you’re slaving over a line or a melody or a beat or whatever for ages. I can never see what it’s going to be at the beginning ‘cos what’s the point of doing it if you know where it’s going to go? That’s no fun. ‘MASSEDUCTION’ started to all crystalise in a way at the end. But that’s just weird alchemy. I don’t know how that happens.” And so as the hero, love straddles both sides of control. However infatuated, head over heels or heartbroken she is, everything is given an equal weight. There’s power throughout, even when she’s baring her soul. “I think vulnerability is brave and therefore powerful,” she reasons. “I have agency in every song. We all have agency; we just have to acknowledge and exercise it.” It feels like self-love comes into play, “You mean like masturbating?” Annie asks with a knowing smirk. “Self-love? I don’t know what that terminology means. I’m not sure what people mean by self-love or self-acceptance. There’s not so much judgment in the record. The narrator or me or however
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you want to say it, is not standing on high, away from a situation going, ‘This is what’s justice, and this is what’s injustice or anything like that. It’s just human experience as lived, which is complicated and faceted.” The record teeters on the edge of chaos, that feeling of “it’s just inside me.” A little bit political, a little bit personal, “the two are so interlinked”. The title-track plays seduction and destruction off of one another, blurring the lines and holding up a dirty mirror. “You don’t know what you’re going to make until you are in the process of doing it,” Annie reasons, but she knew it was going to be a personal record. “I knew it was going to be a glamorous bloodletting.” Why? “It just seemed like the right thing to do.” There’s hope to the record, because “hope is in life too. It just exists, so I put it in there. I must have wanted it because I did it,” she offers. Her art is made up of “so much thought. So much accident.” “Making a short horror film was really influential in how I thought about the visual side of the record,” she continues, referencing The
Birthday Party, her contribution to horror anthology flick XX. “I started writing with my friend Willo Perron, my creative director, on this. We started rapping about the aesthetic, back in March and the record wasn’t anywhere near done at that point. The visuals were influencing the music; the music was influencing the visuals. It really was symbiotic in a way it never had been in the past.” The mood board ideas of “manic panic, sexy Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and a dominatrix at the mental institution,” set the tone for the world of ‘MASSEDUCTION’. “We live in really absurd times, so this was how we could really lean into the absurdity of the times but also have it be sexy. It’s an odd balance, to be absurd and sexy.” Especially when you have the sincerity of it all. “You’d have to, otherwise there’d be nothing rooting the whole thing. It’s a very sincere record, very heart on sleeve, but if I were to draw the exact visual analogue to the music, it would be Metallica’s ‘Black Album’. I needed a visual that had some humour and some buoyancy to it.”
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DEB HE NDA A IE CEN MY WIT S O S: TT.
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THERE’ S A RU MBLING UNSETT COMING LING N FROM O OISE TH VER YO STA N D AT ’S A N NDER. A APART N O N U F N R C O I NG A B M THEIR HEROES AND WH PEERS. . 2018 O T I S H EY’RE A WHEN T UP TO K LREADY HE RES ING NU T OF TH INDIE N. E WORL D WA K E S
WORDS : JAMIE MUIR. PHOTOS : SARAH LOUISE
BENNET T.
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Listening to their newest single, ‘Dig’ – “honouring the last moment of a relationship before everything falls apart, the last beautiful sunset you see before dying” - the idea of creating a hybrid sound becomes clear. And it’s something Izzy and co. are continuing to build with their
O
“I love the recordings we’ve done, I feel like I’m really coming into my
own with a new direction concerning hip-hop drums,” Izzy says, citing Canadian documentary ‘Hip-Hop Evolution’ as one particular influence. “We’ll always be a rock band at heart, but I think with the discoveries that have really inspired me, they’ve been much more crossover.” They’re not doing anything that’s too out there, though. “We’re still the same band – but I’ve been getting into really experimental sounds and beats, looking at different genres and finding something that feels like more of a hybrid than just linear rock music.” A newly-found appreciation for the Beastie Boys – “looking at how they made a weird marriage between rock music and hip-hop” – was also a creative inspiration.
upcoming debut record. Though it’s been a long time coming, she’s pleased they’ve taken their time with it and not rushed something out. “We could have done an album already, but I think it’s really important that we do it at a time that’s fucking perfect for us. Even if I write a song that’s like, ‘Fuck, this is everything’ in February, I will not wait for that to go on the second album. There’s quite a lot of lucidity…” As for what people can expect from it, Izzy hopes it will feel like “an eclectic emotional spectrum of different things… a sort of best of.” Because of the way she pens songs, though, there’s no running theme. “I’m quite schizophrenic in my writing, I write to how I feel. Sad, happy, empowered, emotional - the contrasts will be clear on the album. Everything will be seen through a cinematic lens, but maybe with rose-tinted glasses across the whole thing.” P
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It’s a friendship that’s been growing ever since Royal Blood watched Black Honey perform a few years ago – though Izzy criticises it as “a terrible show”. Since then they’ve toured together, playing a number of smaller venues around the UK. “They just really feel like a part of our world and our family,” she considers, detailing the one piece of advice that Mike’s given her: “His tip was, ‘If you’re unapologetically and authentically yourself then you can’t go wrong’. And it’s a sentiment that defines Black Honey perfectly: refusing to conform to the perceived idea of how most people interpret ‘rock’ music. Having spent the year recording new music and playing some of their biggest shows to date – including Glastonbury’s John Peel Stage, Reading & Leeds and London’s Alexandra Palace with Royal Blood – they’re now putting the finishing touches to a debut album.
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elaxing on an Italian beach on a boiling hot day, Black Honey are enjoying some downtime after drinking a lot of wine and eating just as much pasta. “It’s my best day off in ages,” says frontwoman Izzy B Phillips. The Brighton fourpiece are in Europe for a massive tour supporting hometown friends Royal Blood – and it’s safe to say they’re all having a great time. “The crowds have been really receptive,” she continues; “they really listen to you.” As for their offstage antics, both bands have been out almost every night, getting smashed. “They come onto our tour bus every day; Ben brings round tequila shots before we go onstage and we jam a lot. It’s nice because we’re from the same place and now we’re in a similar place - being in a band and on the road, and that we’re from the same hometown and are in similar friendship groups makes it a bit more sincere. They take me under their wing a lot, too; Ben and Mike are very protective over me.”
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REVIEWS
THE BIG MOON I
BRING CARNIVAL TI ME TO KO KO!
t’s been seven months since The Big Moon released debut album ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ and every show has seen the same fizzying, chemical excitement bubble over on stage. There’s been no lull, no motions to go through, and no moment where it’s felt like The Big Moon aren’t having the most fun possible on stage. Still, tonight as they take to a very busy, very vocal, very buzzing Koko
in London, Cee, Jules, Fern and Soph somehow find the time, space and energy to have more joy than ever before. That grin’s commanding. Launching straight into ‘Silent Movie Susie’, The Big Moon aren’t wasting any time. There’s none to spare, not when there’s a carnival to be had. Jules is already leaning into the crowd, teasing the most out of night and from the front to the back, every song is a reason to cheer, a piece of the band to hold dear. ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ and ‘Zeds’ let things get tender, confidently strutting about and showing off their heart as ‘Happy New Year’ explodes with rock star flourish and a hands-on-the-heads moment for Jules as she looks around, trying to work out if tonight is even real. “I can’t
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believe how many of you there are,” she laughs. The disbelief in neon letters. The excitement solid and something to build around. The band take little moments for themselves, huddling together around Fern at the end of ‘The Road’ or sharing a wink, grin or giggle midsong, knowing that they’ll want this to last forever. The first song the band ever wrote ‘Eureka Moment’ is thrashed about, torn apart and reassembled. They also can’t stop themselves hurtling forward. A cover of ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ and their own ‘Something Beautiful’ see the band dial up the rose tints while a robust, soaring finale that starts with ‘Cupid’ and goes via a fierce ‘Formidable, and bonkers ‘Bonfire’ before settling at the
shiny, teeth-baring ‘Sucker’ does away with the glasses and falls completely head over heels. Moments to get lost in, moments that are eternal, The Big Moon are a force of sheer wonder, magnetic charm and absolute delight. Their shows are the perfect attack against a world gradually dimming and tonight, focal, united, glittering, is a powerful reminder of just how important standing together can feel. Ali Shutler
NOEL GALLAGHER
WHO BUILT THE MOON?
Sour Mash
eeee Being continuously referred to as a potato must do strange things to a person. Previously, Noel Gallagher felt like the safest of hands. A man who knew his strengths and played to them flawlessly. While it might not have pushed the bleeding edges, it served him well. And then, out of nowhere, comes ‘Who Built The Moon?’. While Noel’s third solo album may be out there only within his own centrist sphere, it’s still the kind of progression that ruffles feathers. This isn’t just about a bloke playing the scissors on the BBC. This is an album trying new things, breaking out of the mould and lighting up its horizons. The bloke from Oasis this isn’t. The brassbound stomp of lead single ‘Holy Mountain’ is only part of the ticker tape parade. Tooting merrily like Dumbo on roller skates, the older Gallagher was the last man you’d expect to pop in a flute solo, but it works, providing what might be his most vital blast since Oasis’ glory days. It doesn’t stop there, either. ‘It’s A Beautiful World’ shimmers and skips to a different beat, while ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ stalks like a big cat, each deliciously creaky step sounding out loud from whisky soaked floorboards. Every move is anchored to Noel’s heartland, sure. But, like Paul Weller, with age Gallagher seems to have found new opportunities to play within his sandbox. When he does return to his roots, that familiarity feels welcome - ‘The Man Who Built The Moon’ sounding like his Mancunian titans at their later day best, dramatic swagger trailing in his wake. While r’kid may see it as an insult, the humble spud is ubiquitous for a reason. Mashed, boiled, fried or baked, it knows far more than one tired old trick. With ‘Who Built The Moon?’, Noel’s joining the potato circus. Stephen Ackroyd
PALE WAVES + KING NUN ARE FEROC IOUS AT LOND ON’S CAMD EN ASSEMBLY
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ave I said we’re called King Nun yet?” asks Theo Nun. “Fuck, maybe I never will,” he grins before the riptide of ‘Speakerface’ comes crashing against London’s Camden Assembly. It’s as rampant, ferocious and unchained as we’ve come to expect from the foursided rabble but tonight, there’s a build to the destruction.
Less than an hour later and Pale Waves introduce themselves after the first track. Polished and with plenty of bite, everyone in the room already knows their name; it’s been hanging on the tip of tongues for a while and for good reason. Pulling back the curtain with ‘Television Romance’, the gang open their world of digital daydream, cutting heartbreak and wide-eyed adventure. People sing along to songs that are unreleased, deleted from the internet and best of the year with equal gusto. “This is a dramatic song,” Heather explains before the shadow play of ‘My Obsession” rises up, but there’s a flourish of the fabulous and decadent in every turn the band make. The everyday made eternal. ‘Heavenly’ bursts with a sunshine refrain, lost inhibitions and excited possibility before ‘New Year’s Eve’ finds itself alone, searching for a connection. As the lights flash blue, pink and burning white, it doesn’t take long for the jubilant pop of ‘There’s A Honey’ to place it front and centre. “This is where the fun begins,” she promises. Pale Waves look like superstars. Jamie Muir
DOWN WITH BORING
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