Fire (The Unstoppable Force)
Born in the deep, dark, depths of Kingston Upon Hull, this six piece outfit play a post apocalyptic brand of dark soul garage that will break your mind and melt your soul.
Matt Edible & The Obtuse Angels
Matt Edible has been a jewel in the crown of Hull’s music scene for many years. From fronting cult avant-pop heroes Edible 5ft Smiths to leading Tom Robinson (6music) favourites The Holy Orders, he has consistently produced memorable and captivating music. Matt Edible & The Obtuse Angels feels like where all of this has been leading. The debut album Stairgazing (2018) featured the lush production and multi-instrumentation of Joe Bennett (Goldrush/St. Etienne), the drumming skills of Mike Monaghan (Gaz Coombes/Willie J Healey) and contained a wide variety of material ranging from the sublime, swooping, sweary love song Astronauts to the anthemic indie earworm Nightclubbing. It also showcased a love of a wide range of styles from Post-rock to Americana leading the American alt-legend Josh T. Pearson to proclaim “The best thing out of Hull since the Humber Bridge!” When Covid hit, Matt locked down at home to record the follow-up album - The Optometrist. Alongside new additions John Andrew (Kingmaker) -drums, and Sarah Shiels -bass, Matt has produced a thrilling new collection of material ranging from existential soulful ballad Triage to alt-big band epic The Big Reveal.
The Velvet Dolls
If you’d have told 3 young lasses they would end up reuniting 10 years later, after years of pursuing their own thing, they’d have probably told you ‘’that ship has sailed!’’ I guess as you get older, absorbing the struggles of women in a male-dominated world, gives you the resounding urge to stamp a female edge on the patriarchal remnants of the blues rock scene. Despite vocalist and bassist Sarah Shiels vowing last year she was ‘’done’’ with playing in blues bands, there’s an itch to be scratched when it comes to The Velvet Dolls, a feeling of unfinished business.
Consisting of Sarah Shiels (lead vocals, bass), Meg Selway (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Jo Patmore (drums, backing vocals), the Hull 3 piece released their first EP in 2015, recorded at Fairview Studio. This EP they consider a time capsule which they often revisit after a bottle of wine. 2025 will see the re-release of tracks from this EP, brought to streaming services for the first time, along with new recordings and a live date to follow.
What is it about blues rock that attracted three young women? 1960s R&B always had a feeling of nostalgia, reminded them of time spent with their Dad’s perhaps and it seemed a natural outlet for musicians like them who became obsessed with guitar music throughout their teenage years. Whilst The Velvet Dolls entered a saturated market of guitar indie bands back in 2015, the music always felt fresh, basing songs around 60s sounding riffs, rich female harmonies and gutsy lyrics describing teenage angst of love, hate and often, rage!
The Dyr Sister
The Dyr Sister's Fairy-tales for the Modern Gentleman is an ever-growing compendium of anti-ballads. An evolution into a small ensemble after a time as a solo entity was inevitable in order to more effectively transmit the surreal, subversive and sometimes provocative paintings of sound that respond to the vagaries of modern life.
Combining contemporary folk with post-hiphop and electronic music genres the Dyr Sisters songs are delivered with driving percussive beats via a backdrop of strings including Viola (Sally Currie), Harp (Stephanie Halsey) and Bass Guitar (Sarah Shiels) and layered with haunting and ethereal vocal harmonies. This is a devastatingly beautiful expression of what it means to be alive and kicking and still telling tales in these bleak times.