DOWN WITH BORING
ISSUE 52 · MARCH 2021 · READDORK.COM
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Index Issue 52 | March 2021 | readdork.com | Down With Boring
Editor’s Letter Dork loves a pop star. So much, so obvious, eh? I don’t mean in the way we refer to every single musician that passes through our doors in such terms - though we obviously do - but rather the Certified Megastars that will occasionally bless
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us with their presence. Well, this month’s cover star Zara Larsson is certainly one of those. With her second album out this March, she’s embracing her true calling, too. ‘Poster Girl’ has no room for slow songs. Front to back bangers, it’s exactly the kind of sparkly, fun-fuelled triumph that we all need to cheer up our 2021. So that’s nice. It’s not all great news this month, though. As we were finishing up this issue, news broke
of the death of musician, producer, DJ and pop genius SOPHIE. Responsible for so many of the very best records of the last decade, they were far beyond being just ‘influential’. It’s hard to imagine what music would sound like today without their influence. Our thoughts are with SOPHIE’s friends, family and all of those who knew them.
Stephen ‘Editor’ @stephenackroyd
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Zara Larsson Zara Larsson has already proven herself as one of pop’s main characters, but with album two, she’s embracing the fun.
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Julien Baker
Dodie
We all need something to hold on to during these ‘difficult times’. Thankfully, Julien Baker is back.
LOVE IT IF WE KERMIT
In this most darkest of timelines, dodie is back to remind us it’s okay to be grey.
14 Hype
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Wall Art
58 Incoming
Ø6. Architects Few bands have been through the things Architects have, but with critical acclaim and commercial success, the scene leading metallers are entering a new phase. 11. Tom Grennan With his appearance on our weekly radio-showslash-podcast Down With Boring, we run through the stuff we’ve learned about our Tom. 14. Gracey Having joined pop-writingphenomenons Xenomania at the teeny-tiny age of 16, Gracey has always been set for superstardom. 46. 24kGoldn With the runaway success of ‘Mood’, as he gears up for a debut album later this year, you could say 24kgoldn has a certain touch. 48. Claud With an ear for pop magic, Claud’s debut album is already one of the best of the year.
52. SG Lewis SG Lewis just wants to get back to ‘the club’. Thankfully, he’s made an album to take us back there.
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Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden
Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young
Scribblers Abigail Firth, Alex Bradley, Alex Cabré, Beth Lindsay, Ciaran Steward, Connor Fenton, Jack Press, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Neive McCarthy, Phoebe De Angelis, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelly Snappers Alyssa Gafkjen, Benjamin Vnuk, Charlotte Rudd, Ed Mason, Harshvardhan Shah, Harvey Pearson, Jennifer McCord, Jeremy Reynoso, Maybelle Thieu, Patrick Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett PUBLISHED FROM WELCOMETOTHEBUNKER.COM
UNIT 10, 23 GRANGE ROAD, HASTINGS, TN34 2RL
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.
A selection of Muppets that look like The 1975’s Matty Healy
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SOPHIE 1986-2021
“I think all pop music should be about who can make the loudest, loudest , brightest thing” thing” As this issue went to press, news reached us of the death of musician, producer and DJ SOPHIE. Responsible for some of the most influential, important and brilliant music of the last decade, they were a vital, visionary force who will be missed by many. Our thoughts are with family, friends, and all of those touched by their genius.
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THE BEATING HEART OF POP.
“I’m ready Few bands have been through the things Architects have, but with critical acclaim and commercial success overflowing, the scene leading metallers are entering a new phase. By: Jack Press. Photography: Ed Mason.
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FYI
So it’s official. The 1975 have cancelled their 2021 touring slate, due to our old ‘mate’ coronavirus. That means their Euro tour and big Finsbury Park blowout this summer are off. It’s not all bad, though - they’ve also confirmed they’re at work on a new album. Ooooooh, etc.
STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MONTH...
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to go to
war”
ew bands could follow the death of their founding father and principal songwriter after a long-fought battle with melanoma with a critically-acclaimed genredefining album and headline not only Alexandra Palace, but Wembley Arena, too. Architects have weathered the worst storms and transformed themselves from unlikely underdogs to the champions of British metal as we know it today. While their achievements were holding them high up on a pedestal for all the world to see, they were digging themselves deeper and deeper as they drove on to disguise their pain. So how does your brain react when the rollercoaster screeches to a stop, and you get off? “It was a weird one really because we’d sort of been going since Tom [Searle] passed away. The only thing we knew how to do was be a touring band, and it felt like it was necessary for us to just carry on with what we were doing to help us heal,” explains Sam Carter, Architects’ longtime vocalist, at the start of a Zoom call that dives deep into the last four years of their lives. “Obviously doing [2018’s] ‘Holy Hell’ was extremely difficult but touring it, man, we didn’t really take time to stop and think about it because it was so hectic. We got through making the record, and then it was ‘okay, let’s go’, you know? And we got back out on tour to what is our safe place, because we love being on tour. We’re best mates, and there’s nothing better than touring around the world and playing songs for people with your best mates, but, we didn’t really take in how big an album cycle it was until we stopped for a little bit and then it all came at once.” As much as there was a perilous pit of pain to wade through, the band - completed by drummer Dan Searle, bassist Alex Dean, and guitarists Adam Christianson and Josh Middleton - were left consumed by the crippling anxiety of climbing the mountain of writing an album without any input from their
We’ve finally got an actual real life release date for Lana Del Rey’s brand new album ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’ - it’ll be with us on 19th March, ‘FYI’. She’s also dropped the title track from the record, which is Very Lana Indeed, so that’s nice.
principal songwriter. “We were coming into a situation where we were having to be the songwriters for the first time, and we were having to take control of the beast that is Architects. Tom is such an amazing songwriter so to even try and do anything on that level was bold, you know?” ponders Sam, pausing before adding: “This record didn’t need to be ‘Holy Hell’ part two, because we’ve done that, and we’ve done that process of showing that side of us, and that pain. It’s kind of like our second record instead of it being our ninth, it was like ‘okay, we know that works, and that works, we can do that, so let’s expand on that and see what we can create’, and we wanted to have the time to go all in and create something special.”
“It’s kind of like our second record instead of it being our ninth” Sam Carter It’s a cliche to end all cliches, the concept of a band creating something special, but Architects’ ninth studio album, ‘For Those That Wish To Exist’ truly ticks the boxes of a modern masterpiece. Whilst those trademark blastbeats and breakdowns are barricading the beat in force as always, there’s a newfound electronic experimentation that lends itself to the industrial wasteland they’ve soundscaped. It may well have been one of the last songs they wrote, but they knew they had it when they let lead single ‘Animals’ out of the cage. “It was something that we had spoken about with Tom when he was ill, about moving into this organic industrial world, and I feel like it was the
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COVER STORY
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ZARA LARSSON
Zara Larsson has already proven herself as one of pop’s main characters, and with album two, she’s embracing fun. By: Abigail Firth. Photography: Benjamin Vnuk.
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JULIEN BAKER
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JULIEN BAKER
Faith Healer We all need something to hold on to during these ‘difficult times’. Thankfully, Julien Baker is back to show us we’re not alone.
By: Neive McCarthy. Photography: Alyssa Gafkjen.
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CLAUD
Super Monster With an ear for pop magic, Claud’s debut album is already one of the best of the year. By: Martyn Young. Photography: Jeremy Reynoso.
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CLAUD
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DODIE
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DODIE
back In this most darkest of timelines, dodie is back to remind us it’s okay to be grey. By: Abigail Firth.
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