Five Favourites: Queen Cult

Following acclaim from the likes of BBC Introducing for their debut single ‘Shindigger‘, and support for their resonant latest single ‘A Song About Consent’, Cheshire band Queen Cult have been fast making a name for themselves. Consisting of front person Maisie Johnson and bassist Leila Jacklin, as well as Brodie Carson on drums and Piers Jarvis on guitar, the band pride themselves on their LGBTQ+ identity and sharing their queer, politically-charged messages with the masses. Having released their debut EP earlier this year, they have now shared an epic new video for single ‘Calm’, showcasing the band’s seething energy and immense, angst-fuelled drive as they make a fiercely impassioned proclamation to stand up to the patriarchy.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of their new video, we caught up with Queen Cult to ask about their “Five Favourites” – five of the songs that they’re loving right now. Read about their choices and watch the immense new video for ‘Calm’ at the end of this article!

Childish Gambino – ‘Redbone’
I mean the whole album Awaken, My Love! could have been used for all my five favourites, however we landed on ‘Redbone’ for first choice. It’s sonically pleasing and incredibly well written and produced, with a sense of unpredictability as to where the song is going to go as it plays on, it’s a tune we could never get sick of.


Thundercat – ‘Dragonball Durag’
I mean you can’t not dance to it can you? Again, other very well produced song with catchy, wavey vocals. On top of that – we can’t get enough of that bass-line. And with that, the song is also relatively introspective due to its humorous lyrics that get utterly stuck in your head.


Low Hum – ‘Comatose’
This laid back, pleasingly sleazy song is the perfect warm evening driving song. With a strong bass line and eclectic guitar motifs throughout – you can’t go wrong with it regardless of whatever mood you so happen to be in. Despite the sad nature of the lyrics, by the end of the song you can end up feeling at peace.


Wolf Alice – ‘Lipstick on the Glass’
From their album Blue Weekend, this is a song that when we first heard it we couldn’t stop playing it. From the ethereal vocals to the eclectic layered guitar parts, it catches you off guard when you first set your ears to it and from then, you’ll be addicted.


Jeff Buckley & Elizabeth Fraser – ‘All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun’
This song is held deep in my (Maisie’s) heart. As a demo that was leaked and not even a fully formed song at this point, it has its own charm. A timeless chorus with a chord progression you could have circling for hours. Elizabeth’s vocals soar through with pure power and emotion that makes your face screw up (but in a good way), and Jeff’s harmonies make it so sweet. Could never ever get sick of this song and the nostalgia it makes you feel for a time when you weren’t even born…

Massive thanks to Queen Cult for sharing their Five Favourites with us! Watch the new video for ‘Calm’ below, and make sure you catch them playing live for us at The Shacklewell Arms on 6th May, supporting The Menstrual Cramps. Tickets here.

Photo Credit: Debbie Ellis

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Five Favourites: Barrie

Set to release her upcoming second album later this month, New York artist Barrie Lindsay – aka Barrie – has been charming our ears with her shimmering sounds for some time now. Ahead of the album’s release, she has now shared ‘Jenny‘ – a poignant reflection on falling in love with her wife. Flowing with twinkling melodies as her delicate crystalline vocals emanate a stirring emotion, it’s a beautifully uplifting offering, celebrating the comfort of finding home in another person.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of her new album, we caught up with Barrie to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five ‘perfect pop songs’ that she loves and have inspired her sound. Check them out below, and listen to ‘Jenny’ at the end of this article!

The La’s – ‘There She Goes’
I first heard this in the Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap movie, and I come back to it constantly. It’s such a Motown song with the beat, melody, harmonies and loud, live-sounding production – it makes no sense that it came out in 1988. And it perfectly rides the line of happy and melancholy. It seems so simple but the structure and progressions are really hard to pin down. It’s particularly special to me because my dad and I used to play this song on guitar together — it’s really fun on a 12-string.


Robyn – ‘Call Your Girlfriend’
Robyn is a master of minimal maximalism, like SOPHIE. And she’s so committed to the character of Robyn, it’s really inspiring. The Robyn songs that click for me are the ones that have her special mix of drive and melancholy. She gets the perfect balance of hopeful and desperate. I’ve tried many times to write a Robyn song, and I’ll probably keep trying to for a long time. I love running to this song, and it blows my mind that a song is capable of making you physically stronger.


Alvvays – ‘Dreams Tonite’
Beyond the great songwriting (the anticipated chord change in the chorus!), there’s a lyric in this that I think about a lot when I’m songwriting: “On the turnpike, one of Eisenhower’s.” It feels like they are breaking a rule or something – lyrics in popular music don’t reference mundane parts of history like Eisenhower building the turnpikes; it’s a throwaway line that packs so much. The line makes me rethink the inevitability of the way society operates, how everything in our society was designed by some person- it sends me on an entire other existential thread. And particularly at a point where you’re songwriting and can’t or don’t want to delve into yourself for lyrics, why not poke at the things in the world around us that we take for granted as part of everyday life? And ultimately, they all shed light on human behaviour and therefore lead to human connection, like you hope for in a song.

Billy Preston – ‘Nothing From Nothing’
This song feels like pure joy. Great musicianship, great melodies. It’s playful, and after years of listening to it, I still get the same amount of joy from it; it reminds me of dancing in the kitchen as a kid with my family. He was an incredible pianist, and what a great rag-timey piano sound. I joined my school’s gospel choir in college, and got exposed to contemporary gospel music like Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Kurt Carr, and Hezekiah Walker. This song has a lot of the same driving and uplifting qualities as contemporary gospel, which makes sense since Billy Preston came up playing in church. A lot of what I like about this song is the same as what I like about gospel music. So much flair and musicianship from the instrumentalists. They’re so tight.

Britney Spears – ‘How I Roll‘
I first heard this song in 2012 and I was blown away. So many great textures, so chaotic, and also somehow so pure. Underneath the micro beats and totally synthetic, unnatural sounds, it’s just a hand-clapping game song. I like that they threw everything at the song, like a no-bad-ideas session, and then honed every single detail. Everything feels deliberate; it’s experimental but in the name of joy rather than self-indulgence or pretension. How cool that Britney Spears went for this?!


Massive thanks to Barrie for sharing her Five Favourites with us! Barbara, her upcoming new album, is set for release on 25th March via Winspear. Listen to latest single ‘Jenny’ below.

Photo Credit: Alexa Viscius

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Get In Her Ears Live @ The Shacklewell Arms w/ Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business, 24.02.2022

Last Thursday, we were back at The Shacklewell Arms in Dalston, and what a dream of a night it was! Overcoming cancellations and changes of line-up, and at a time when we’re all struggling with everything going on in the world, it really was the wonderful musical catharsis we all needed. Huge thanks to the three totally amazing bands who played, and to all the lovely folk who came out to support them and fill the venue… We’re still feeling all the feels, and are extremely grateful to everyone who made it such a beautiful night.

Opening the night, duo Elena and Kyle, aka all cats are beautiful (ACAB, if you will), treat us to their truly dreamy whimsical allure. Delivering their utterly unique ‘sad dance tunes’ (plus a particularly moving cover of Daniel Johnston’s ‘True Love Will Find You In The End’) with a captivating energy, they offer a perfect fusion of immersive heartfelt emotion and uplifting grace.


Next up, Sheffield band Potpourri make their London debut. Walking onto the stage to a self-recorded calming guided meditation, the colourful trio deliver their wonderfully quirky offerings with a vibrant energy and endearing wit. With a sweeping, jazz-infused groove alongside catchy bass hooks and luscious shimmering vocals, the set brings a perfectly blissful interlude to the day’s worries.


Headlining the night, Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business deliver a special, stripped-back set, due to members of the full band that had been planned sadly not being able to make it because of illness. However, despite the last minute changes to both line-up and instrumentation that Jenny had to make, what’s delivered is something truly wonderful. Accompanied by four other vocalists, and occasional violin and bass parts, she sits at the piano delivering each spellbinding anthem with a raw honesty and sparkling charisma. Combining a heartfelt emotion with some much-needed laughs, it’s the perfect musical tonic – a beautifully rousing catharsis.

Massive love and thanks to all three bands who made Thursday such a joyous night! Join us back at The Shacklewell Arms next month, on 25th March, with headliners Fightmilk, Bitch Hunt and Sassyhiya – get your tickets here.

Photos: Jon Mo / @jonmophoto
Words: Mari Lane

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Premiere: Hannah Schneider – ‘Mirror Sphere’

Having been big fans of Danish duo AyOwA for some time now, especially since they played for us at Notting Hill Arts Club a few years back, we were extremely pleased to hear that vocalist Hannah Schneider has now shared a poignant solo offering, taken from her upcoming album Ocean Letters.

A reflection on life’s beginnings and the emergence of being, ‘Mirror Sphere’ builds with a simmering emotion to a captivating soundscape. Oozing a spellbinding allure, it showcases Schneider’s rich, stirring vocals with a twinkling simplicity. Whilst more stripped back than we’ve come to expect from AyOwA, this solo venture maintains all the glistening majestic splendour and cinematic grace that we associate with Schneider, with an added immersive intimacy and delicate sense of vulnerability. A truly exquisite and enchanting hybrid of sounds.

Of the track, Schneider explains:

“’Mirror Sphere’ was written in the middle of a complete lockdown during the pandemic. It felt like it was a crucial moment in history – almost as if it was the end of it all. I came to think of the earth’s long history, and that everything happens over billions of years – all the way back from the time the amoebas decided to go ashore, to become animals and later humans. We’re just part of the long haul, and that’s kind of a consolation!

This time of isolation and complete quiet sent me back to something basic. A nearness and a simplicity. Creatively, for me it meant going back to where the music started for me – at the piano. Mirror Sphere mixes the acoustic sound of my piano and guitar with electronic and spherical elements into an ambient pop song. The production has been turned down, the vocals are done in one take, and these new songs reflect a new process for me in many ways…”

Created in collaboration with producer Nicolai Kornerup, ‘Mirror Sphere’ is out tomorrow, 25th February, via Copenhagen label Midnight Confessions.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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