Once again, a ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin managed to break some newer ground last evening when Nuke The Whales, Louis Scheuer and The Big Strong Boys, Taylor-Louise & Blue Strawberries all gave of their time & talent.

This was another occasion on which few if any of those there had experienced the full range of the music on show for a variety of reasons.

Blue Strawberries are one more of the beautifully nurtured & mentored bands to emerge from the ‘Live On Stage' project organised by the team at The Tin and Coventry Music: utterly confident & comfortable at playing precisely what they want to play (which is a charming dream pop type of material) and although aged between 12 & 16, unfazed by playing alongside & in front of adults. Joined for a couple of numbers by project mentor Mason Le Long, they wove harmonies & instrumental parts together into original songs which they tell me that they will soon start recording so you can enjoy them too.

If Blue Strawberries were less familiar to people there due to their early career stage, Taylor-Louise was something of a revelation to them as she's been busy doing other things for the last few years & not played as much as she once did. Considering that the two other bands hail from, like her, the Leamington scene, it was quite fascinating to find out that she was known to them more by reputation  than experience: just goes to show how in the healthiest of scenes, things can move so very swiftly.

In a powerful & hard hitting set, she proceeded to show the audience what we've all been missing: straight back into playing, arguably more potent than ever. Another strong marker of intent was her complete focus on new material: no looking back, just with her eye on where she's at & aiming towards. I'm sure you'll be seeing & hearing much more from her in coming months & knowing her single mindedness & tenacity, she'll be giving it her all, utilising all the energy which has gone into equally rewarding areas of her life in her quieter musical phase.

I've tried to feature Louis Scheuer on one of these events for some time. His busy schedule has shaped how long it's taken & it's funny how many of his bands have been on my list only to break up before we nailed things down. This latest one (the one we caught) is a bit of a local supergroup as Morton Ballard (catch him on July 3^rd with las vedas) and Paulina Kalwarska (of Jackdaw with Crowbar etc) were the other members. (I'm reining myself in a lot at this point as if I went into detail of which bands these had played in & with whom, a complicated diagram would be necessary).

That's the simple bit. In terms of set structure, he started solo in acoustic guitar/harmonica/foot percussion mode and the others joined him on electric guitar & drums as things hotted up. what was played? Well now we're starting to stretch my vocabulary.. In the lead up to the event, Louis kindly offered me "psych/country but a bit more raucous and punkified" as a potential style guide for promo & that certainly gives me and you something to grip onto.

However there was a very strong blues element: most notably in his first bit and I'm glad to say was steeped in true blues themes unlike much of the mass produced stuff so prevalent these days. He called it "depressing" but that's what the blues are genuinely about. After that it just shot off into all sorts of weird & wonderful places where simple words aren't adequate. Please do catch this lineup & make of it as you will: you'll definitely be moved by them.

Headliners Nuke The Whales had not in fact headlined previously, so that was their precedent setting moment. They certainly fitted the role effectively: following their act must take some doing. I'll try & explain why but doing much more than scratching the surface may be tricky.

First of all, it was pretty multi-media: a lot of thought & effort had gone into visuals, including stage wear, effects, samples etc. The mood promoted was good humoured but since many of the songs also dealt with serious subjects, there was depth to be explored. The energy levels were high throughout which always makes for a great climax to any gig & many of the audience were inspired into slam dancing.

The band in fact played pretty much their entire repertoire to the point of bringing one number out of retirement: so when the power of demand overwhelms the supply, you know how well you're going down. I can't doubt that more headline opportunities will come their way.

Big credit to Joseph Sullivan for curating the sound too: yet again the range of styles  & volumes across the evening was significant yet each was served by having what they intended transmitted faithfully to those listening.

The events in this series (touch wood) meet the aim of helping sustain this vital venue which seeks, through charitable status to "advance education in music and arts for the public benefit by the provision of an arts facility, to  promote health by the provision of tuition in music and arts and to promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society". Those goals alone justify our support, quite apart from the specifics of the nights & artists each of us has enjoyed and knowing of particular programmes like ‘Live On Stage' which lie behind both the strategy & the pleasure.

However The Tin tends to promote an underlying environment which manifests itself on nights like HMLP events: where the audiences revel in finding new artists to enjoy, where people cast off the shackles of genre and where you ca turn around & witness people congratulating each other & forming new connections. There was plenty of that last night & just goes to show not only the current depth of original talent around in Coventry & Warwickshire (I had no idea this series of gigs would extend this far when we started) but the collaborative community which is prevailing over the cliques which too often characterise local music scenes.

Our next fundraiser for The Tin is on June 5^th and features the unprecedented & probably not to be repeated lineup of Deathsex Bloodbath, Batsch, Little Girl Screaming and Stegosaurus Sex Party. Tickets will be £8 on the door but you can ensure you have yours for this unique event & save money via this advance ticket link:

https://events.humanitix.com/hot-music-live-deathsex-bloodbath-batsch-little-girl-screaming-stegosaurus-sex-party

See you there.

As I do so like reporting on highly original artists whose work continues to surprise me, it's ironic when my own writing becomes repetitive but in my defence that's partly to the fact that I see patterns in the creativity of my subjects & it would be dishonest not to comment on them.

With Hannah Woof, whose latest "Kiss Me" is out on May 13^th, I keep coming back to how her quality control is set to maximum by releasing only when composition & production are perfected and how the impact on me (and everyone else) is amplified by both having to wait & by the sense of surprise when announcements spring out of the blue.

And yes, I'll be alluding to her wit because It is a truth universally acknowledged that this is the core of her songwriting DNA.

If one day she starts dropping mundane, regular singles with more platitudes than acuities then I'll write different reviews. But that's not going to happen is it?

I might suggest that given the customary intensity of Hannah's writing & delivery, a period to process any of her songs is probably desirable and her general preference for letting tracks out one by one (the ‘Sleepless Nights' (2017) and ‘Heartbreak Hotel' (2023) EPs are her only instances to date of multi-song collections) is probably wise as well as effective. These songs are always strong & heady.

That's because Hannah only writes from the sincerest of places: if she's not felt it, you're not going to hear a song about it. This stretches from the agonies of insomnia through the joys of reconnection with a friend to a number of songs regarding people whose behaviour has pissed her off. This one is called "Kiss Me" so the source of the passion involved isn't concealed.

I only tell you of music in which I detect some truth. Ultimately that means the artist has generously let you into some private place: their thoughts, their beliefs, their experiences. However Hannah admits you to some interior spaces few others do: it's often unsettling and potentially embarrassing sometimes to be privy to what she has been up to do & even more so, her deepest thoughts on the matter. These however make for emotionally powerful songs & I don't think unsettling the listener is necessarily anything bad. We should all be shaken out of complacency at some stage.

As far as I am aware, Hannah's family are highly supportive & proud of her but I do wonder at private conversations there may have been over the years at the candour of some revelations?

With "Kiss Me", Hannah places you in the position in the corner of her bedroom: quite a privilege I'm sure but who likes to be seen as a voyeur? I do hope she gets the satisfaction she deserves from challenging you so much.

If you delve into her catalogue online, the Tipper Gore mob have labelled various tracks as being "explicit", by which I think they mean "includes rude words" but really her entire body of work is emotionally explicit. She is nothing if not frank.

For my final round of "I've already said this in past articles but here we go again", I would like to return to how tasteful Hannah & her trusted team ("Kiss Me" was again produced & mixed by Jordan Round and mastered by Riley Knapp) make sure it's her voice & her words which are foregrounded. They are adept at classy arrangements but not only are these elements the ones to feature most prominently, but when you experience Hannah playing her songs live, you're probably going to see her with only her acoustic guitar (it's been a while since I've seen her even switching to solo piano). Therefore putting an orchestra on the release isn't going to reflect the live experience.  It's about the song & only the song. Just as a good photo or painting looks a bit better with an appropriate frame round it, we're talking a subsidiary feature & so with "Kiss Me": a cracking song set in a neat musical frame.

As part of Music Beyond Mainstream's 25th anniversary touring programme for 2026, musician/ multi-disciplinary artist/ music label founder Max Cooper visits Warwick Arts Centre on Friday 15 May 2026.

Coinciding with the release of his new album, Feeling Is Structure, his 3D/AV Tour - which came out of a commission for London's Royal Albert Hall - sees Max continue to expand his unique immersive approach to live appearances, merging the boundaries between concert experience and installation art.

In between engagements, Max spoke to HotMusicLive ...

Feeling Is Structure 'explores the relationship between physical form and human emotion' - what has been some of the personal prompts/ inspirations for you? 

I spend most of my life in an abstract place connecting musical patterns to my states of mind, and after spending time in the Royal Albert Hall thinking about how to connect the architecture with structures of light I got thinking about our capacity to imbue external form with meaning, and the same process happening inwardly, with the biological structures that map to our states of mind as well. Each chapter and piece of music became a sub-story amongst this idea. Like Chrysalis, which was a light scaffolding inside the space, with us the audience inside this developing structure.

Where did that idea develop from?

It came naturally from the request to build a show for the space, along with my lifelong obsession with the question of what we are. I've tackled it from several different perspectives. For example with Unspoken Words - what we can express that we can't put into words ( unspokenwords.net) , which flowed into On Being, a public database of what is really important to us which we can't express in everyday life ( onbeing.maxcooper.net ), and now, Feeling is Structure which looks at our capacity to create meaning as a central aspect of what makes us.

No two venues are the same, and your 3D/AV dates aim to utilise the spaces, visually and aurally. There's a lot of tech' naturally involved in that. What have been some of the challenges you've faced in staging this project live?

Signal transmission has probably been the most frequent challenge. I have a lot of different projectors to make the visual wrap the audience and interact with the architecture of each space, and patching and formats in video can be time consuming and unpredictable, so I've resorted to bringing all my own cables wherever possible. More specifically to Feeling is Structure, I've been playing with 3D projections into haze, and 360 audience format as well, which has introduced several new challenges.

You also run the MESH label - any forthcoming releases you can tell us about?

There's so many amazing artists working with at Mesh at the moment it's exciting times. Rob Clouth is a Madrid based creative giant building custom software tools and techniques and music like no one else in the world, Odalie from Lyon brings her beautiful acoustic world into electronics, Pleizel and Non Square are Istanbul based bringing a very particular electronic vibe of their own, Throwing Snow is already a UK electronic legend who has recently signed with us with super strong EPs, Jake Oleson is an NYC based film making and composer who is making mind blowing stereoscopic films and music, Drum and Lace from London is a composer and live electronics artist who has recently signed with us, Reid Willis from New Orleans has a magical electronic cinematic touch entirely of his own, Llyr is Berlin based bringing that flavour along with detailed conceptual projects, Jinje is killing it with Berghain and Panorama shows and live percussive electronic AV fusions, Alex Banks is a sound design don and cornerstone of the label with his huge club oriented sound and one of the latest signings Aleph, from Vermont in the States has blessed us with some of the tightest bass fine art.

And how's the year ahead looking for yourself? Any releases or projects you can discuss that you're excited about? Any remixes for other acts lined-up?

I've got some arts projects and installations to work on, but also some club focused projects as well - there's so much I love about both sides. Remix wise I just finished one for Grandbrothers which I'm excited about. 

• Max Cooper 3D/AV Live: Feeling Is Structure visits Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, on Friday 15 May 2026. For tickets see: warwickartscentre.co.uk

• Max Cooper is presented in conjunction with DeliaPhonic, who will take over Warwick Arts Centre's gallery foyer from 7pm with DJ sets and interactive sound experiments from School of Noise.

tenebrous LIAR

ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM ‘VIVA'
STREAM / BUY HERE

tenebrous LIAR, the project of Steve Gullick, are back with a new album ‘VIVA'. 

Released in the Spring of 2026, Gullick (vox, guitar, harmonica) and an entourage including Brendan Casey (bass), Tom Glendining (drums), and Aimee Lovric (guitar), will be taking it out on the road this June.

Beginning with a hometown show at the LTB Showrooms in Coventry, consequent dates will see the band perform in Nottingham, London, and Norwich across the month. Support will come from DRIFT. & Richard Warren at all dates, plus Compliance Unit (Coventry only) and The Breeding (Norwich only). The full list of dates are below.

Since their conception in 2005, tenebrous LIAR has grown from ambitious side-project to fully fledged four-part group. With an ever changing line up, notable past members have included the likes of Duke Garwood, Ed Harcourt, Tom and Dan Glendining, and more with Gullick remaining their core creative constant.

Influenced by the gnarled, amorphous explorations of maverick acts like Neil Young to Nirvana, The Stooges to The Velvet Underground, the band have released ten studio albums in their two-decade existence; many of which in recent times have been self-released on Gulick's own TV Records label, and produced by labelmate Richard Warren.

tenebrous LIAR's most recent work, ‘VIVA', finds the band in formidable form. Released on the Deathto label in April, from the loose wanderings of "Julio", to the propulsive drive of "Juggernaut" and the dissonant sprawl of the 11-minute closer "Tema de Julio", the band deliver a tangled, complex masterclass of sonic textures.

Recorded to tape in Cambridgeshire in Winter 25/26, ‘VIVA' is available now on CD, Limited edition hand stamped CD, and digitally. There is also a limited edition of 30 lathe cut 12" black vinyl copies - each copy is numbered, hand stamped & ships with an insert & 12" X 10" original Steve Gullick signed darkroom photographic print.

Over the years, tenebrous Liar have perfected their live show alongside major artists including Foo Fighters, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Soulsavers, and Blood Red Shoes. Catch the band out on the road this Summer at these dates as follows:

LIVE DATES

• June 19 - LTB Showrooms - Coventry * - https://wegottickets.com/f/18518/
• June 20 - By Our Hands We Make Our Way - Nottingham - https://wegottickets.com/f/18770
• June 26 - The Waiting Room - London - https://wegottickets.com/f/18533
• June 27 - The Holloway - Norwich ** - https://dice.fm/event/yobekx-teneborus-liar-drift-richard-warren-more-27th-jun-the-holloway-norwich-tickets

All shows w/ support from DRIFT. & Richard Warren.
*w/ Compliance Unit
**w/ The Breedling

tenebrous LIAR - NEW ALBUM: ‘VIVA'  - OUT NOW
STREAM / BUY HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION
w/ https://tenebrousliar.bandcamp.com/

***
PRAISE FOR tenebrous LIAR

"Ballsy and brooding, primordial industrial rhythms and swelling psychedelic feedback" - NME

"Shellac, Liars and Nirvana at their most bloody-minded and musical" - The Quietus

"Builds adroitly from Birthday Party blues into a thing of thunderous ferocity" - Uncut

Ahead of their new album, 'Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads',  Ieere have managed to sneak in another taster single, in this case "Privileged Animals" which is out today.

As with all the material on the album, the starting point here is the work of Goethe: in this case it's inspired by his short poem with this title written in February 1815.

A contrast with the last single "The Earth Spirit", being less rowdy & naturally earthy, the broad theme is still spiritual in nature though exploring rather different aspects. If they most recently looked at the more pagan aspects, this time the touchstones are closer to more formal religious traditions, melding elements from orient & occident: not least Buddhist beliefs in hierarchies of reincarnation (though you can also take away a commitment to animal welfare).

The sound has shifted too in order to reflect this: raunchy crunching guitars giving way to a clipped/pulsing groove redolent of 1980s indie pop (think of the likes of "Take the Skinheads Bowling") , the lightness of touch perhaps pointing to the transcendent aspects of the words. The latter are delivered via shifting vocal patterns with the main (male) narrative being joined & occasionally entwined by a female one like lianas in some paradise.

As with the other songs shared so far, this serves admirably to emphasise that the philosophy of Goethe is not rooted in the nineteenth or any other century: the sentiments remain but the setting can vary with the currents of culture.

So far so good. However when you play the song, I defy you not to zoom in on the handclaps which provide more than just mid song punctuation: they almost constitute a solo in their own right so prominently are they mixed. Now the humble handclap helps drive all sorts of high energy pop tunes from "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to "Teenage Kicks" and a million more besides: yet are rarely if ever mentioned by anyone describing the songs in question. Perhaps Ieere are trying to emancipate this downtrodden aspect of musical arrangements? That said, I'm not even sure here whether these are human ones or artificially generated ones: if the former then I congratulate the band on the regularity of timing & volume.

You never get a dull song from this band nor one which doesn't prompt odd thoughts which otherwise probably wouldn't occur to one.

I'm the first to emphasise how much I'd like all the artists whom I write about to be able to become successful professionals.

That said, I acknowledge that the pressure to respond to perceived demographics & to produce new music regularly must impact on the creative process (it may stimulate it positively in some respects of course) and hence bands like The Session whose new single "The Fortress of Solitude" is out on  May 2^nd are able to let the songs come, work on them until perfection is achieved and maintain high quality control.

I'm pretty sure (to quote another local band) that they are in it "for the love not the money" and the outcome seems to be a succession of top notch songs which I understand why people might say surpass each other every time.

I'd certainly expect something great from them but the precise nature & character of "The Fortress of Solitude"? Could I have predicted that? No way.

The band always sound Big due to the nature of the performances of the individuals: it's their nature. Many songs sound "epic" irrespective of actual duration. However this time round, they've definitely pushed the boat out as the song is both long (six and a half minutes) and Dean informs me that there are fifteen distinct instruments involved before you even consider the vocals. No wonder he told me that  "we threw the kitchen sink at it".  

There are of course bands who'd do that sort of thing as a matter of course and deservedly get labelled as "bloated" but quite apart from their skill in only releasing music they're totally happy with, The Session always keep the "taste" button depressed & if there is something on a track it's because it needs it.

It's probably going to be called their "best ever" and though they have plenty of others which I am attached to, who am I to argue about this one getting the accolade.

There are two very obvious potential problems with a song which this much going on & both impact on others. Firstly someone has to sing over the top of it all and someone else has to sort out all the sounds so the concoction is neither a mess nor that any instruments are so buried that including them was wasted.

Well the first one is sorted because they have Sheryl to sing & you should all by now know the glories of her voice. It's a most impressive phenomenon and given that one of the last times I saw her, she sang as well as ever but afterwards her speaking voice (which appears to have a separate existence) was giving her trouble, so there is a delicacy there which moments like that makes one more appreciative of.

In fact Dean advises that some of what the casual listener may assume to be synth parts are again her voice: hitting high harmonies.

In terms of the other set of challenges, the song is produced by longer term collaborator Matt Waddell of 14 Records: a most experienced master of the helpful overdub & perhaps even more importantly, one who knows the band and their music so well and can intuit not just what their song needs but what the band are thinking.

I've said it before, but I have no option but to repeat myself here, that The Session tend to only come up with songs on big subjects: not for them the petty or insubstantial. Therefore it's not that surprising how the music grows to encompass the lyrics and "The Fortress of Solitude" certainly grows. It takes the opportunities inherent in its length to build inexorably. If I say that it gets a bit operatic then I hope they don't mind: I certainly don't want to suggest any pretension on their part. Equally, the term "diva" has shifted from an accolade to put down over the years, but if anyone locally is fitted to the term in its original sense, then it's Sheryl. It's not just about size & range of voice but also about presence & size of heart.

And the song is really a "heart" song, as psychological as it is philosophical. If they've been building towards creating it, then I'd venture also to suggest that a band earlier in their career could not have come up with "The Fortress of Solitude": it's a song of experience & reflection.

"The Fortress of Solitude" will be launched on May 2^nd at a special screening of its video on the big screen at the LTB Showrooms at the Priory Visitor Centre in Coventry from 1600 with donations of £3 (to fund the charity who run the venue) requested.

I am very pleased to be able to announce another fundraiser for The Tin featuring artists involved in the 'Hot Music Live Presents' project.

On this occasion (Friday July 3rd) that will be Danny Ansell & his band, Rosetta Fire, las vedas & dogmarket: another exciting, talented & diverse lineup.Many thanks to them all.You can secure tickets in advance for only £6.50 (they'll be £8 on the door if any are left) via this link:

https://events.humanitix.com/hot-music-live-danny-ansell-rosetta-fire-las-vedas-dogmarket

Sunjay is the antithesis of your typical denim clad disheveled folk and blues musician. From his perfectly groomed hair to his spotlessly shining winkle picker boots he walks onto the stage every inch the "city slicker." When Sunjay starts to sing and play the guitar however, you are transported to a world where blues and country music meld seamlessly amidst humid mangrove swamps and red neck barbecues. Sunjay is, without doubt, the real deal. 

Drawing from a rich, musical, and cultural background it is hardly surprising that Sunjay has quickly become recognised as one of the UK's rising stars. His performances have been described as "mature and confident," while his guitar playing has been hailed as, "superb, brilliant, experienced, intricate amd faultless." Sunjay's style has that natural drift between folk and blues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0F2tgq0PSw

You may have noticed that I have already written this weekend about Cat Mead's song "Society Anxiety" which comes out as a single today.

That's because it was one of the featured numbers in her set at the ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin on Friday evening when she played alongside Duke Keats, Reign The Girl Band and Shanade

Rather unusually for my reviews of her music, this one isn't a relatively recent composition but dates back to 2019. Interestingly though she has only been including it in her live sets since December & she maybe underestimated its power as she has been impressed with the audience reaction to it: presumably that has been a factor in its new status as a single.

As you know, Cat self identifies as creating "Dark Indie Folk" and lord knows the title "Society Anxiety" sends out definite signals. But those are just starting points and more may be said which takes us in other directions.

I'll start perhaps with another revelatory moment (and career milestone) for Cat as I saw it happen. To her surprise, people started dancing to her set on Friday at The Tin. Since the initiators were highly respected local musicians, that rather amplifies the effect. I think it's great when music exceeds even the expectations even of its creator & it goes to prove that there are always discoveries for everyone within the best material.

When you have someone writing in a way which is true, any labels, whether the name they give a song or the blurb necessary on social media to introduce themselves succinctly, soon get subverted once the music begins playing.

The obvious route forwards from the title would be something edgy and angsty but Cat clearly isn't one to make such a trite choice: "Society Anxiety" is a stately and dignified track (it's impossible now NOT to picture dancing to it) which if it's about agoraphobic type syndromes at all, this is quite a minor part of what is in play.

Rather it concerns the culture of society rather than its physical embodiment: and again Cat is taking on the tyranny of expectations. The key is, in her own words, that it is "a play on exploring your inner world and how interesting that can be while being pulled back to a society that wants you to be something else."

Given all I have written about her in the past, you'll not be too surprised to hear how Cat goes for the metaphysics as much as the concrete: and so you need to follow her into the song & engage with her rather than simply being spoonfed ideas. Once you get deep enough you find that the factor which is most likely to tempt her out of her world is when she feels a compatibility of energy level: unless you vibrate on her frequency she'll stay where she is thank you very much. Sounds like a profound concept but really all it is is someone trying her best to explain something honestly in terms which best express it. And it's entirely understandable & correct that those are of her personal choosing.

You can catch Cat live in the next week or so, firstly tomorrow (14^th April), she is hosting a ‘Song & Story' original music showcase at Southbound Café/Bar in Leamington alongside Shanade, Jack Blackman & Daniel Barrie, then she's  at the Priory Visitor Centre next Friday (17^th April)  as the guest of Izzie Derry on the Coventry leg of her national tour with Chloe Leigh and at the next Crypt Session (Friday 24^th) under the Coventry Cathedral ruins alongside Tom Jennings.

Having a pretty unique identity is a good indicator of creative integrity and must help with clear promotion too.

There aren't too many artists whom I've written about who might potentially put out a single called "Mum, I Did Drugs!"  (it comes out on April 24th) and Esore Alle is top of the list.

As a title, it's the sort of provocation which if it comes, can either peter out into little more than just that initial inspiration, so it's even more to the credit of with AJ Montague and collaborators Gavin Monaghan (producer) and Louise Russell followed through with a song which built intelligently & compulsively on it.

Even more impressively is the sense of spontaneity: the song was created in a single overnight session (you can join me if you wish in any speculation over how much, if any, pharmaceutical aid they had in staying the course).

The key is in the title: it's a song of teenage confession of a milestone first experience & I'm glad to say the response is supportive & compassionate.

That's the top level of the lyrics. Underneath, Esore Alle takes it progressively down through the physical experiences to invocations of the mind trip.. which are, as you would expect, more impressionistic and evocative.

Still farther down, the question posed is the fundamental "is this sort of behaviour a  Good Thing?" to which the answer provided is "there is no light without dark" (though that might have been the answer to another question I suppose).

All this rumination sits on top of another perky arrangement which certainly has no sign of any fatigue which might have understandably crept into such a session. The falsetto vocals might well reflect the subject matter and the consciously 90's track sound no doubt pay tribute t a particular era when drugs & dance clasped hands.

It's interesting what other commentators have already said about it: I've been beaten to the suggestion that Esore Alle's music might itself be addictive and I would not have come up with the idea that this is a Gen Z version of ego death being particularly well articulated so I'm happy to pass that on.

I'm really excited to reveal the lineup for our June 5th 'Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin 

Featuring so many local legends making their return to the Coventry stage, you'll get to enjoy Deathsex Bloodbath, Batsch, Little Girl Screaming (in full band format) and Stegosaurus Sex Party.

To ensure that you get your ticket (and save on the door price), please visit:

https://events.humanitix.com/hot-music-live-deathsex-bloodbath-batsch-little-girl-screaming-stegosaurus-sex-party

As I luxuriated in the incredible artistry of a whole, diverse range of musicians last evening at The Tin during our latest ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for that special venue & charity, I had a moment of awful clarity: what a huge rod for my own reviewing back I have been making by organising lineups of this quality. I always start drafting these live reviews in my head during the sets but last night, enjoying Duke Keats, Reign The Girl Band, Shanade & Cat Mead, I was feeling out of my depth in terms of finding the right words. Please excuse the following deficit: I tried my best but you simply need to go and see artists of this calibre to appreciate them.

I'll start however by being helpful: the only proverbial fly in the equally proverbial ointment was that Leicester Row was closed to traffic: that affected me, it affected several of the artists and it affected many of the audience. If you are planning to visit The Tin, it looks like for the next couple of weeks you'll need to approach from the other direction to ensure you catch the start of gigs.

First up, was the increasingly high profile Cat. I must thank her for joining the lineup on the withdrawal of a scheduled artist but how the potential adversity was changed into glorious success! In just a few months, her profile has shot up like Artemis: both in terms of participation in live shows (catch her in the next week or so at the Priory Visitor Centre next Friday (17^th April)  as the guest of Izzie Derry on the Coventry leg of her national tour with Chloe Leigh, at the next Crypt Session (Friday 24^th) under the Coventry Cathedral ruins alongside Tom Jennings and she is hosting a ‘Song & Story' original music showcase at Southbound Café/Bar in Leamington alongside Shanade, Jack Blackman & Daniel Barrie next Tuesday (14^th April)) and with the quality of her releases: last night her next single "Society Anxiety" (out on Monday) was part of her setlist along with "Sound of the Wolf", her current acclaimed one.

Part of the DNA of these shows is to introduce audiences to artists they may not have previously encountered (I could only find one person other than myself who'd seen all four before last night) and Cat certainly won plenty of new fans: remember how high a percentage of crowds at The Tin are other musicians too.

 Cat calls her music "dark indie folk music" which is as fair as any description can go (I certainly can't improve on it) but it transcends genre really: just truthful, intense songwriting approaching emotional subjects from a unique angle.

Shanade, as I'm about to describe, also defies categorisation. Though she has been round the local scene longer than Cat, not everyone present had had the pleasure of hearing her original tunes & those of us who had, had not necessarily heard a very fresh & recent collection which I hope gets recorded before too long. I hate hyperbole so when I say Shanade is in the form of her life writing this material, it's no  exaggeration. As a long term big fan, I have loved so much of her work over the years but this is another gear.

Playing both guitar & keyboards (not at the same time), this was asset of great diversity. You could pick out her various musical loves, especially R&B and blues but Shanade is a mistress of the melting pot: nothing we heard fitted into one genre. For example if Janis Joplin had covered Nick Drake, you might get a flavour of one new song & another ‘Alice in Wonderland' one on piano was Shanade the Surrealist. This is creativity unbound.

I say that because she seemed to be having a fine old time up there: I wonder if the chance to play such personal material of her own rather than covers was emancipatory? At any event, I do hope she gets many more chances to play her own songs.

Reign The Girl Band also broke new ground at least in terms of breaking my own partial expectations of their music. So delicate & filigree it is, I really appreciated hearing it in the intimate environment of the Crypt, but like Banoffee at our last, they demonstrated how much potential they & it possess for delivering it in a range of settings, projecting it to suit the space and audience without the slightest detriment to nuance nor its general haunting nature: the crowd were in rapt awe apart from the thunderous applause between numbers.

Of course, given my previous praise for their vocal & instrumental virtuosity, this is predictable to a point, but it's still great to experience them win over yet more fans.

Which leads me into a nice story: they were approached by a couple who'd seen them at a previous gig & taken the opportunity to do so again: obviously this is a wonderful measure of success but even more so in that Amanda & Julian (because they deserve mention) had also taken the trouble to tell them what they thought of them directly. I suspect that we all (myself included) can at times keep positive thoughts to ourselves & maybe be a bit reticent to go up to musicians after a set & praise them, but I urge everyone to consider doing it: you can guess the effect on musician morale.

I also feel that momentum is an overlooked aspect of getting careers moving & so I'm delighted that Lily & Sian are playing gigs regularly: the word is spreading and I trust Amanda & Julian are just two of many getting hooked.

As for Duke Keats, we are again into totally unique territory. Viewed as "the most original band to come out of Coventry since The Specials", what other artist (and he displayed some of his visual art onstage as well as selling home created merch) manages to channel Ancient Egypt & Hollywood via a blend of music which has so many elements that you might say "everything" but I guess psychedelia, rock & funk are most obvious although the scent of experiment hangs over all. Naturally the quartet have the skills to go wherever these strange songs need to take them. A relatively simple example might be how "The Angels Are All That's Owed" (an acoustic song as released), popped up in full-on rock style.

There is so much fun going on that it's perhaps easy during the live manifestations of these songs to forget the high conceptualisation behind all of them: I think you have to really. Duke Keats is such strong stuff live that you simply can't process all the aspects of his fertile mind.

I just hope that the wider world gets at least a bit of his ambitious creativity: he is so hugely talented. At least Coventry gets him & loves him.

Presiding over all this quality & diversity was Ian Whitehead who curated the whole with his usual impeccable touch: the sound levels alone varied enormously between the four acts.

Our next gig  will be on May 15^th  featuring Nuke The Whales, Louis Scheuer & The Big Strong Boys, Taylor-Louise and Blue Strawberries: tickets are available via:

https://events.humanitix.com/hot-music-live-nuke-the-whales-big-strong-boys-taylor-louise-blue-strawberries

See you there.