Sophie Williams

When Arctic Monkeys came good on an endless whirl of feverish underground hype in the early ’00s, it was evident that the course of indie rock had changed forever. Here was a band that was plain-speaking, feisty, exciting and seemingly without ego, that proved their mettle by shunning publicity, and had sold out the legendary London Astoria (now sadly closed, 2000-capacity in its prime) before they had even signed a record deal.
Six chart-topping LPs, two live albums and two EPs later, the ba...

Bang a gong! Get it on! How the ’70s glam-rock-loving north London pop star learned to love himself (and made peace with the haters)
“I’m bigger than The Killers!” Declan McKenna exclaims, throwing his head back and erupting into a fit of infectious laughter. “I don’t care… I saw them play one night at Brixton Academy in 2017, and I’m playing two nights there next year!”
Er, are you sure?
“Yeah! I personally think I’m going to whoop The Killers,” he continues, one eyebrow raised, an exhilarat...

Pink is hanging upside down from a towering, diamante-encrusted chandelier. As it swings, she snarls, winks and breaks into Get the Party Started, her tongue-in-cheek romp from 2001. To the delight of Cardiff’s roaring crowd – though perhaps not her insurance underwriter – the 39-year-old pop veteran scales every angle of the bejewelled contraption with the acrobatic execution of a Cirque de Soleil runaway, held aloft by just a light harness. Not your average start to a party, then.

But Pink ...

Yorkshire punks LIFE have always been proud flag-bearers for their hometown. From frequently championing Hull’s burgeoning live music circuit across social media to supporting local charities via merch sales (a recent zine that donated proceeds to WISHH, a charity in aid of local hospitals, was a hit), they have never shied away from their roots.
The band carry this same attitude tonight as they storm through their first live set since March, performing in aid of the Justice for Christopher A...

Every month //TREMORS// spotlights a new artist sending waves through the music scene. This time, Sophie Williams meets Baby Queen – the South African mega-pop-star in the making.
When Bella Latham, aka Baby Queen, moved to west London as a wide-eyed, excitable 18-year-old, she was on a particular mission: to reshape the pop-sphere as we know it. Within a week of living there, she had settled in Fulham with her auntie and uncle, and had enrolled in a music course at a North London college to ...

There are certain songs that just leave you floored on first listen and Holly Humberstone’s ‘Deep End’ will be one of them. A weep-worthy illustration of the ice-cold grip of her sister’s depression, aches with longing as twinkling percussion tiptoes alongside gut-wrenching lyrics; “You’ve practised your lines to convince us you’re fine/But I know that’s not where you are”, she confesses. At times, it is too quiet and unbearably sad, but ultimately retains a sense of warmth and compassion thr...

If it’s a new summer banger you’re after, then Alfie Templeman is your man… or, er, boy. The 17-year-old Bedfordshire singer/songwriter has already demonstrated that he knows his way around a groove: his burgeoning catalogue of playful, woozy jangles (on 2018’s ‘Like An Animal’) and the open-hearted pop roughness of his 2019 EP ‘Don’t Go Wasting Time’ are proof. A similar spirit drives his latest six-track collection, the eclectic, poptastic ‘Happiness In Liquid Form’ EP.
Everything here soun...

The debut album from BLOXX arrives freighted with expectations. Since 2016, the London-based quartet – lead vocalist Fee Booth, bassist Paul Raubišķis, guitarist Taz Sidhu and drummer Mozwin Norohna – have constructed a solid reputation via touring extensively with the likes of indie giants Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats, hitting up major festival stages and rapidly churning out one hook-studded banger after another.
But BLOXX are not the type to bow to pressure. Across 12 straightforwa...

At Green Man, the bucolic grounds unfurl to reveal a multisensory playground of literature, visual art and performance. You can find eclectic delights in every corner, and BBC Radio 6 Music-friendly fortysomethings navigate the spotless, hill-ringed site with similar fervour to the many infants that roam freely. Between stalls offering Japanese kumihimo braiding, tree ring printing and candle wax powered boats, the only gripe you could have is that you may miss more than you will see.

Oh, and...

In the era of the gig economy and zero-hours contracts, the whirlwind nature of the side hustle is such that, for the business savvy, one’s day job must be intermittently put aside. Even the Kosovo-born pop singer Rita Ora took on numerous extracurricular activities following her 2012 debut: acting, modelling and presenting just about managed to keep her head above the pop-culture parapet. Her tenacity is admirable – she recently became the British female artist with the most UK Top 10 single...

Over the past few months, Beabadoobee’s rise to global stardom has largely been propelled by a song that isn’t even hers. Canadian emo rapper Powfu’s viral ‘death bed (coffee for your head)’ – a woozy bedroom pop jam that heavily samples Bea’s 2017 debut single, ‘Coffee’ – seems to be finding new life by the day. It has already soundtracked almost 6-million TikTok clips, and racked up over 700-million plays across streaming services. Since the release, Bea Kristi’s own material has gained ren...

As they prepare to release their second EP – this one without an accompanying Netflix series as promotional tool – it's make or break time for Charli's Angels.
Nasty Cherry aren’t really your average girl band. Catapulted to fame in late 2019 via the hit Netflix six-part docuseries, Nasty Cherry: I’m With The Band, the quartet quickly became the epitome of polarising hype as the show generated tireless debates about their manufactured origins.
For the uninitiated, each member was cherry-picke...

Holly Humberstone has spent the past few months opening up to herself. So far, the 20 year-old singer-songwriter’s year has been spent churning out moody electropop vignettes of adolescence with lyrics that are as self-reflective as they are universal. “People connect with my songs because I keep the lyrics about real things that are going on in my life,” she tells NME from her family home in Grantham, Lincolnshire. “I want people to feel connected to me on a personal level through my music.”...