PREVIEW: Sounds Queer: Rehearsing Utopia – An All Night Music Queertopia

Ahead of its second event this Saturday 17th September at Rich Mix, Ellie of Sounds Queer has told us about all they stand for and what to expect from the event. Have a read, and join in the fun tomorrow!

Sounds Queer is an innovative live music showcase spanning genre, expression and identity. The event will champion diverse voices and sounds from the LGBTQIA+ community, whilst providing a safe space for audiences within it.

Despite London being a cultural hub for both music and the queer community, there are few live music nights whose priority it is to provide a platform for LGBTQIA+ artists. In addition to this, there is a lack of truly inclusive events, gigs or venues for emerging music that caters to the specific needs of the community. Run by music lovers and queer creators, we aim to provide a platform for those artists as well as a safe space for the community to discover and support them.

For our next event, we are excited to announce we have partnered with the wonderful team at Rich Mix for a show called Rehearsing Utopia – An All Night Music Queertopia, this Saturday, 17th September 2022! 

A night dedicated to the celebration of queer live music, Queertopia is about giving a much-needed space for the creation of a queer live music utopia where audiences and performers alike, from the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, can enjoy, celebrate and connect around queer music and creativity. We will be launching our new season with an all night music extravaganza with the one and only Nimmo announced to be headlining.

The evening will be hosted by London’s undeniably talented and multi-faceted drag queen Barbs, who will also be giving us an extra special solo performance ahead of Nimmo’s set. Also supporting will be Amaroun (a GIHE fave!); a triple threat multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter with warm silk-like vocals that make kaleidoscopic alt-r&b. Our very own co-founder Toby Corton will also be supporting; a “charismatic queer cockney creative” who describes his sound as “a modern British take on neo-soul built on a foundation of frank queer storytelling”. We will also have the unreal DJs Bestley and D’vey taking us into the early hours with their wonderfully woozy soundscapes.

We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come since our first event in March and we are so excited about what’s to come. Watch this queer space!

It sounds right up our street! Nab your tickets here and check out an awesome playlist featuring the artists who’ll be gracing the stage tomorrow here.

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Track Of The Day: adults – ‘all we’ve got // all we need’

Following the release of their debut EP The Weekend Was Always Almost Over back in 2018, and last year’s split Space Armadillo EP with fellow GIHE faves Bitch Hunt in 2020, South London band adults have now announced that their debut album will be released later this year via Fika Recordings. To celebrate the news, they’ve shared a shiny brand new single.

Reflecting on the importance of coming together within your community to resist social injustice, ‘all we’ve got // all we need‘ is a perfectly lovely ode to looking out for one another during hard times. With relatable lyrics about having a breakdown on the Megabus, it flows with a quirky, jangly energy as fuzzy hooks whirr alongside candied harmonies. Simultaneously oozing a sense of joyous unity whilst shades of despair at the state of the world remain evident, ‘all we’ve got // all we need’ glistens with all the dreamy, indie-pop feels and honey-sweet heartfelt emotion I could ever desire.

for everything, always, the upcoming debut album from adults, is set for release later this year via Fika Recordings. And you can catch adults live this Friday 8th July at The Sebright Arms, supporting Charmpit’s last London gig, along with Bitch Hunt – get tickets while you still can via DICE!

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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Track Of The Day: Cheerbleederz – ‘Nail Biters’

With their new track ‘Nail Biters‘, London trio Cheerbleederz have released an anxiety anthem that perfectly captures what it’s like having an internal monologue hell bent on torturing you.

The song feels simply constructed. It’s got a steady rhythm, lively guitar and backing vocals that weave around each other beneath the lead lines. Its complexity creeps in as the track goes on until it echoes the anxiety at its core; whilst the vocals begin softly, the lyrics describe anxiety that persistently nags at you and – while it lingers in the back of your mind as you go about your day – it never goes away. While the lead vocal puts the general pressure into words, the backing vocals reflect the teasing voices behind the scenes that induce the undue stress.

As anxiety finally takes over, the song ramps up into a panic. The lyrics stay the same, but everything gets louder, with the lead vocals becoming sharper and more emotive – you can feel the distress as it all finally becomes overwhelming. The repeated line “no worries if not” as the energy builds really captures the way anxiety makes you feel. It’s desperate to not take up space, not to burden anyone, not to cause any unnecessary problems. It’s insistent that there are no worries when the song as a whole is, in fact, about all-consuming worry.

‘Nail Biters’ encapsulates what anxiety feels like, in a fun way – a way that makes you feel seen. It’s reassuring to know that there are other people out there who overthink, and a gift to know that some of them are so talented that they can boil the awful experience down into a two-and-a-half minute indie-pop banger.

Cheerbleederz are set to release their upcoming debut album, even in jest, this summer via Alcopop! Records.

Kirstie Summers
@Actually Kurt

Photo Credit: Rich Mandell

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LISTEN: GRAWL!X – ‘Hopelessness’

I let out a little squeal of joy when this landed in my inbox. Grawl!x’s first new music since 2020, ‘Hopelessness’ is a dreamy piece of uplifting pop. With the band’s newly expanded line-up, Maria Michael Machin’s beautiful vocals and revelatory lyrics are given the big, bold platform they truly deserve, buoyed by multiple layers of lush melody and instrumentation.

For a song about hopelessness, this electro-infused number feels anything but. It’s simultaneously joyous and vulnerable; a sad song that you can have a proper shimmy to, which emphasises the importance of hope and sharing your feelings.

Formally a solo project, this taste of new music from Grawl!x is infused with a new confidence and energy that we’ve never seen before. With an EP due for release this spring, it feels like they’re a band at the height of their powers.

Spring, the upcoming new EP from Grawl!x, is set for release later this Spring via Reckless Yes.

Vic Conway
@thepicsofvic

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