Leeds Gigs: Music in May

Barry Adamson, Blancmange, Willy Cobb, The Hanging Stars, The Mysterines, Tors and The Warning

Tors at The Wardrobe on 1 May

Tors. Photograph by Anna Lowry.

The band have shared their new single ‘Only For You’ from their new EP ‘Miracle’, out on 26 April.

“Tors know how to make you feel good.” – Jack Saunders, BBC Radio 1
 “Kind of like a Sea Girls meets Lewis Capaldi.” – Jess Iszatt, BBC Radio 1
 “Musical greatness in their blood.” – Wonderland
 “From constant touring to industrious songwriting, Devon trio Tors are embracing all that comes their way.” – The
  Line of Best Fit
“Bittersweet yet endlessly beautiful.” – Clash

Tickets here.

Willy Cobb at 02 Academy on 12 May

Willy Cobb. Photograph by Alex Berger.

Southern alt rocker Willy Cobb lights up his new single “Cigarette Smell.” It marks the genre-busting artist’s official debut under his newly minted deal with War Buddha / Warner Records. Listen to “Cigarette Smell” HERE.

Not caring what people think is a crucial aspect of Cobb’s view of himself and his music. While he credits other like-minded Southern artists who flout easy genre labels, Cobb considers himself to be on a unique mission to connect with fans who might feel like outsiders in their communities. “There’s a whole minority of kids in the South that feel like me—that were weird and alternative in high school,” Cobb explains. “I want them to see that you don’t have to be country to be from Georgia.”

Tickets here.

Blancmange at The Brudenell on 24 May SOLD OUT

Blancmange. Photograph by Helen Kincaid.

After announcing the 10 May release of the expansive, career-spanning best of collection ‘Everything Is Connected’Blancmange now unveil a brand new song from the set in the shape of ‘Again, I Wait For The World’. Listen HERE.
 
While ‘Again, I Wait For The World’ is a “new” Blancmange song, it also takes us back to before the band’s formation. Blancmange vocalist, songwriter and mainstay Neil Arthur wrote the song with his previous project L360 way back in 1979. Since then, it always remained in the deep recesses of his mind until he felt compelled to finish it earlier this year. Naturally, then, it feels like it has a footprint in both eras: possessing the urgency of a band carving their own space in alternative music, but with future-facing electronics that sit neatly alongside the contemporary alt-pop sound.
 
Neil says, “I’m still trying to find the other members of L360 to credit them, because without them, I wouldn’t be here.”

The Mysterines Live at Leeds in The Park on 25 May

The Mysterines. Photograph by Silas Agtarap. @ShotBySig

Merseyside alternative rock band The Mysterines announce their new album ‘Afraid of Tomorrows’, the highly-anticipated follow up to their critically-acclaimed Top 10 debut album ‘Reeling’, is set for release on 7th June via Fiction Records. Alongside the announcement, they have shared the lead single ‘Stray’, which premiered on BBC Radio 1 last night as Clara Amfo’s Hottest Record. Listen here and watch the Matilda Harding-Kemp directed video here.

Tickets here.

The Hanging Stars at Hyde Park Book Club on 29 May

The Hanging Stars. Photograph by Julian Hand

Releasing their fifth album, ‘On a Golden Shore’, this Friday 8th March 2024 via Loose Music, the band will hitting the road in support of a record which has already received rave reviews:

“glowing, cosmic UK Americana…a set of epic soundtracks conjuring kindred spirits Teenage Fanclub and the Velvets”
★★★★ MOJO
“shimmer[s] with a jazzy sense of country psychedelia that’s frequently quite magical”  7/10 UNCUT
“masters in their field” ★★★★ SHINDIG

TICKETS: https://www.thehangingstars.com/shows

Barry Adamson at The Brudenell on 30 May with Nadine Khouri

Barry Adamson has announced details of a brand new 10-track album, Cut To Blac, set for release on the artist’s own imprint on 17 May 2024Cut To Black is Adamson’s tenth solo studio album, and comes accompanied by an unmissable series of dates across the UK and Europe in spring / summer 2024 – full details below – with special guest Nadine Khouri joining the UK and German dates.


Listen to the album’s opener: ‘The Last Words of Sam Cooke’: 
https://youtu.be/tusOaKpglWc

Cut To Black is out on Barry Adamson Incorporated, with a full UK and European tour to follow: https://linktr.ee/BarryAdamson

TICKETS here.

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