EP: Porij – ‘Baby Face’

Balancing their love for pop & dance music alongside their social and emotional conscience, Manchester-based four piece Porij have created a bright, spirited collection of songs on their new EP, Baby Face. Whether they’re trying to rebuild the rattled confidence of women walking alone at night on buoyant opener ‘Nobody Scared’, or soothe the sting of a brief break-up on ‘Divine’, Porij do it with playful flair and infectious optimism via their dancing beats and quirky electronics.

Greatly influenced by the carefree time they spent studying, living together and playing to crowds who craved a mixture of genres in Manchester, Porij have leaned into their poppier tendencies on this latest offering. Whilst their debut EP Breakfast hinted at a love for the genre, on Baby Face they unabashedly embrace the joy that comes with writing a succinct pop song. “We’re all pop people,” vocalist & keyboardist Eggy explains. “A lot of bands are quite anti-pop, but I think the art of writing pop is ridiculous! Pop is hard to write.”

Finding method in their “mish-mash” of pop and dance, the bandmates have written four fun-sounding tracks fuelled by everything from lust to disgust. Penned after Eggy learned about the origins of the Reclaim the Night marches whilst watching a crime documentary on Netflix, ‘Nobody Scared’ is designed to empower listeners with its mantra-like chorus, lulling them into a state of security. There’s a healthy dose of self-love on ‘Divine’, with Eggy’s smooth vocals urging listeners to declare “Bitch, I’m divine” when they reach those “pearly gates.”

Guitarist Tommy’s lilting riffs on ‘Ego’ slide smoothly over drummer Tom’s buoyant percussion and James’ edgy basslines, but it’s the pure UK garage club vibes of ‘Can’t Stop’ that provides the real dancefloor-filling energy. They linger on and provide a remedy for the post-hook up blues. Lusty closer ‘Heaven Knows’ pleases with its direct lyrics, contrasting synth sounds and more of the band’s playful beats. It bookends their joyful dive into pop, patriarchy and finding pleasure in skipping through genre loop holes.

Light in all the right places, Porij’s new EP Baby Face provides a brief but lively distraction from everyday life.

Porij’s new EP Baby Face is set for release on 22nd September.

Follow Porij on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

Kate Crudgington
@kcbobcut

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LISTEN: LIINES – ‘Keep On Going’

With their last single ‘Sorry‘ reaching over 100,000 streams on Spotify and with acclaim from the likes of Sleaford Mods, Radio X’s John Kennedy and BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, longterm GIHE faves LIINES seem to be consistently going from strength. Now, ahead of a few tour dates coming up this month, the Manchester trio – comprising of Zoe McVeigh, Leila Sullivan and Anna Donigan – have shared a potent new offering.

Propelled by a frenetic sense of urgency as Leila’s emphatic beats set the tone, ‘Keep On Going‘ gradually builds with intricate musical layers as gritty, whirring hooks kick in alongside Donigan’s deep, throbbing bass. Resulting in a sublime, post-punk force of nature, it’s driven by a swirling, frenzied energy, exuding a fierce, unrelenting power as the seething ferocity of Zoe’s distinctive raw vocals soar. A short, sharp two minute sonic explosion that’ll grab you by the ears and instantly awaken your senses with its relentless, impassioned allure. Of the track, Zoe explains:

“‘Keep On Going’ is a call to arms. The song is almost like a mantra – a chant. A reminder to put one foot in front of the other because that’s all you really can do. It’s a two minute blast of energy that signifies the need to just ‘keep on going, keep with me’.“

Watch the new video for ‘Keep On Going’ here:


Produced by Paul Tipler (Elastica, Placebo), ‘Keep On Going’ is out now. Catch LIINES live at The Grace in London this Thursday 9th September with stellar support from GENN and Anna Vincent, and in Manchester on Saturday with the equally awesome Desperate Journalist – details here.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

Photo Credit: asupremeshot

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Track Of The Day: The C33s – ‘Benzodiac’

Named “the future” by BBC 6Music’s Chris Hawkins, The C33s are back and leave no listener’s head unturned in their latest surf-rock plea to tackle life’s harsh realities riff-first. It’s been a long roadmap, two lockdowns and one cancelled Christmas since last year’s single ‘Harpurhey Hostility‘ took a political dive into Mancunian society’s most disenfranchised, but The C33s are back with new track ‘Benzodiac’ – the newest addition to their bible of uncompromising home-truths.  

‘Benzodiac’ is the first single and the title track from the 3-piece punk outfit’s new EP and was fuelled by the band’s frustration at the closure of the live gig scene last year. For that reason, it’s production clings as close as possible to the raw live experience, taking the Californian genre to dizzy new heights before slamming you back down to a gritty-garage reality that the band have best described as “concrete surf-rock”. 

The single is explained by the band as “a frank observation of addiction, renewal and rebirth”, but prepare to be anything but sedated as an intoxicatingly slick and progressive guitar riff provided by Cav Green pulls you in, making it the perfect soundtrack for your favourite desert cult-classic film. We are thrown into epic surroundings with urgency as this track builds with Judy Jones storming in raucously on the kit whilst Ste Phillips fuels the anticipation with an exhilarating and palpitating bass line, meeting the perfect use of a tantalising reverb and echo-inducing delay during Cav’s guitar solo.

What’s exciting about this track is Cav’s move to a more spoken-word style vocal like that of The Damned’s 1977 release Damned Damned Damned, while the delivery of lyrics like “the universal will just to become” resemble the more recently fashioned passionate and punchy vocal of Idles’ frontman Joe Talbot. Not to forget Judy’s rousing dual harmonies throughout and her first-class punk yelp that creates the ideal sought after abrupt cliff-hanger ending to this single that paves the way for a future that is The C33s.

The new from The C33s, also entitled Benzodiac, is set for release in August on Rare Vitamin Records, and will available to purchase on 10” vinyl, CD and cassette.

Lauren Roberts
@robauren

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Introducing Interview: The Deep Blue

Releasing their debut single, ‘The Jealous Sea’, today, Manchester-based band The Deep Blue create wonderfully uplifting, shimmering offerings. Flowing with glistening harmonies, the new single showcases Georgia, Sophie, Niamh and Katie’s beautifully rich vocals and an endearing heartfelt sentiment, reminiscent of the likes of HAIM or The Staves.

Despite only forming last year, The Deep Blue have already secured bookings at festivals such as Liverpool Sound City and Focus Wales, immediately cementing themselves as firm ones to watch. We caught up with the band to find out more…

Hi The Deep Blue, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
Hello! Thanks for having us. We are an all-female indie-folk band based in Manchester. This city has a special place in our hearts but our homes are far and wide; Georgia is from Scotland, Sophie from Wales, Niamh from Ireland and Katie from Down South (official term). We spend our weekends blending weird and wonderful vocal harmonies with Sophie’s punchy beats and Georgia’s catchy guitar lines. If we’re lucky, Sophie cooks us dinner after rehearsal (her cooking is out of this world). ‘Jealous Sea’ is the debut single from The Deep Blue, released under Liverpool-based indie label Snide Records. It was produced by the talented Alex Quinn.

How did you initially decide to start creating music together?
Niamh, Sophie and I used to be in another band named Café Spice but in 2020 we began making new tracks that didn’t fit with our old sound, so we decided to start something new. Katie joined us in the summer lockdown 2020 and The Deep Blue was born. It’s been so joyful painting on a fresh musical canvas with this wonderful group of women! A key component of our music is three-part harmonies and with Katie’s voice, the mix was luscious. Silky, warm and velvety. 

You’re about to release your debut single ‘Jealous Sea’. What inspired this track? Are there any particular themes running throughout it?  
The never-ending onslaught of airbrushed social media has been giving us all motion sickness these past few years. It’s both spectacular and terrifying, but we can’t deny that it often leaves us feeling a little green with jealousy. We wanted to capture that in an honest, hair-down, mask-off song. We reached for a gritty rawness and paired it with our soft folky singing and out popped ‘Jealous Sea’. 

We love your uplifting, shimmering sound, which brings to mind the beautiful alt-folk of The Staves, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
What a compliment! Thank you. It’s a tricky one. For this song in particular we listened to a lot of Phoebe Bridgers and ‘Emily’ by Clean Cut Kid. HAIM’s album Women in Music Part II had just come out and we all became obsessed with it. We played it in the car all the way to Giant Wafer Studios in Wales (where we recorded ‘Jealous Sea’). We have a good mix of favourites among us. Everything from Arlo Parks to Jessie Ware, Big Thief to Katy Kirby. We love it all! 

You’re from Manchester – in ‘normal’ times, one of the best places for live music! What have been some of the best gigs you’ve ever been to?
Well, obviously it attracts some big names. Some of our top gigs include Maggie Rogers at the Ritz, Parcels at The Academy, Everything Everything at the 02 Apollo, Honeyfeet at Niamos – all mind-blowing. Some of the best live acts we’ve seen are the more local ones. Rocking up to Matt and Phred’s or The Whiskey Jar on a Tuesday night, you’re bound to hear something brilliant. Those music nights are intimate and special. Manchester’s local musicians are unbelievably talented.

And what can fans expect from your live shows? 
Our gigs are quite intimate even with a lot of people in the room – we like it that way. We want people to feel things and we also want people to dance. Dance their feelings – there’s time for stories, but also time to just move to the music and have a wee boogie! Expect vocal lusciousness, catchy guitar riffs and four-to-the-floor grooving; expect to laugh and maybe cry; expect to be lost and then found again, and then, by the end, expect to be our new friend and have tired feet.

How have you been connecting with your audience and other musicians during the pandemic?
I’d love to say we’ve been writing our fans letters and serenading people on their door steps but the fact of it is, we’ve been doing the usual social media dance. We’ve had fun covering some of our favourite female artists – Sorcha Richardson, Aurora, Caroline Polachek. I guess we’ve mostly been focusing on ourselves, building The Deep Blue and writing songs.

And has there been anything/anyone specific that has been inspiring you, or helping to motivate you, throughout these strange times? 
We all have sisters and I feel like we’ve become a surrogate sisterhood in replacement of our absent sisters. Having each other has been hugely supportive, I can’t even find words. The Deep Blue has been our family when we couldn’t go home.  Now for the serious stuff: Sophie’s cooking, HAIM, chocolate digestives, Niamh’s poetry phase, the thought of releasing this song.

How do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
Yes, it certainly is hard to get noticed but I think if you’re out there just to “get noticed” there are far easier routes to success than being a musician. It’s tricky not to stray from your path of passion and we’ve all had bizarre ideas like “Oh maybe if we just start a cooking channel on TikTok where we sing and toss pancakes we’ll double our fan base in 30 seconds”. Making the music we love is the most important thing and that keeps us grounded. It’s difficult to be heard, there are so many new bands and artists all the time. It takes a hell of a lot of organisation and hard work to even get one song written, rehearsed, recorded and released. There are seven of us in this team working to make it work! But it started with one and grew over time. My advice to new acts would be: take your time, figure out who you are and what your sound is and let that be the centre of your universe. 

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming bands that you’d recommend we check out?
Yes! Morgan Harper Jones, Nina Cobham, Quiet Houses, MYTBE.

Finally, what does the rest of 2021 have in store for The Deep Blue?
Write, record, release and finally play some live shows! We cannot wait to perform, we’ve got so many songs we want to share with the world. We’ve been working hard in the studio so keep your eyes peeled and your ears tuned.

Massive thanks to The Deep Blue for answering our questions!

Produced by Alex Quinn and recorded in Giant Wafer Studios in Wales, ‘The Jealous Sea’ is out today, 13th May, via Snide Records.

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