Further Listening:

5. Ester Has The Seed Of A Really Good Idea

Back in July, Ester appeared on these pages as they premiered their excellent single, Laundry, the title track of their new EP, due to arrive this November via Audiosport Records. Their first new record since 2020’s long-player Turn Around, Laundry features both new material and re-workings of tracks they previously shared, with sparser arrangements largely featuring just songwriter Anna Holmqvist and longtime collaborator Katelyn Cohen on cello. Ahead of the EP’s release, this week Anna shared the latest single from the record, a brand new track, Seed, Sun, Soil.

Described as a lament for a dying house plant, Seed, Sun, Soil finds Anna in a reflective mood as they note, “how sad it is to watch the death of something you grew and nurtured”. Musically, the track is probably the most traditionally folk-leaning Ester has ever sounded, the finger-picked guitars and swooping cello, reminiscent of both legendary performers like Nick Drake or Karen Dalton, and contemporaries like Shannon Lay or Alela Diane. Lyrically, Ester seems to channel some of the word-tumbling inspiration of Joanna Newsom, ideas pouring forth as they sing of horticultural worries and spin them wider into ideas of humanity and grieving, “all the green it goes and leaves me wanting, it takes a bit of hurt, all left with the feeling of a feeling smaller than it’s worth”. There’s something beautifully poignant about Ester’s music here, finding empathy and relatability in the fading flora, finding our human fragility mirrored, our weaknesses shone back at us by the roots and soil. Although nothing I write can probably top Anna’s favourite review, as they recall, “after we played this live, someone enthusiastically told me that he wanted to share it with his Dungeons and Dragons group and I’ve never received a higher compliment”.

Laundry is out this November via Audiosport Records. For more information on Ester visit https://estermusic.bandcamp.com/.

4. Me Rex’s Ambition Is Giant Giant Giant

2022 was a monumental year for London/Brighton trio ME REX, as it saw the band share two acclaimed EPs, Plesiosaur and Pterodactyl, as well as the monumental 52-track, designed for shuffle, create-your-own album project, Megabear. By contrast, 2023 seems relatively calm, but it will still include a huge moment for the band, as they share their record, Giant Elk, their first release record as a full band since 2020. With the record set for release in October, this week the band shared the latest track from the record, Giant Giant Giant.

Listening to ME REX, I’m always struck by their ability to take me back, to transport me to the turn of the 2010s when the brief indie bubble was bursting and a string of excitingly uncommercial bands like Los Campesinos! and Tilly And The Wall were scraping about making great records outside of the mainstream’s gaze. Here they combine their trademark energetic guitar clatter with a driving drum rhythm and twitchy, bounding keyboards, the whole thing rushing by in a blur of joyous melody. Atop it Myles McCabe shares his poetic and slightly cryptic lyrics, they’re writ with both a sense of loss and of optimism, “clinging close on the bones of dead languages, wrapped in the wiring of torn down houses, always among the guts of something good, the rubble where the palace stood”. A step forward for ME REX, a band that never forgets where they came from, Giant Giant Giant isn’t just their best track yet, it’s the sound of a band sharing more of themselves than ever, a deeper dive into their musical world than ever before and a reason to be very excited for the new places Giant Elk is going to take us.

Giant Elk is out October 20th via Big Scary Monsters. For more information on Me Rex visit https://www.merex.co.uk/.

3. Divorce Really Scratch That Itch

If you’ve been to a festival this summer, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen Nottingham’s Divorce, who have been making a pretty good argument for being the UK’s hardest-working band. The summer might be done, but Divorce’s live dates certainly aren’t, with shows supporting Warmduscher and Willie J Healey, as well as their own headline tour still to come. Taking a brief breath between shows the band this week announced the upcoming release of their new EP, Heady Metal, as well as sharing the first single from it, Scratch Your Metal.

Described by band member Tiger Cohen-Towell as, “probably the closest thing to a love song that’s been written for Divorce”, Scratch Your Metal is about, “showing the most difficult and sometimes unbearable parts of yourself outwardly”. With its title lifted from, “the most unpleasant noise I can think of”, the track is thankfully more pleasant on the ear, with Tiger playfully describing the original version written on a cheap Casio keyboard as, “Divorce’s own little stab at synth pop banger”. The final version seems fairly removed from that original, as the band’s work with acclaimed producer Matt Peel results in something vast and exciting. The lurching bass is adorned with wiry 80s-influenced guitars and gang vocals that go from half-spoken intensity to soaring Bat For Lashes-like howls. It feels fitting that as Divorce’s profile continues to soar, so too does their music, their moment in the spotlight is coming and thankfully Divorce sound more than ready to embrace it.

Heady Metal is out November 17th via Gravity/EMI. For more information on Divorce visit https://divorcehq.co.uk/.

2. Your New Favourite Band? Muriel Are Definitely In The Frame

One of my favourite discoveries of the year so far, Muriel have appeared on these pages twice with May’s debut single, Seaside Painter, and the June follow-up, Body Of Light. Signed to Venn Records, the Cardiff-based project of songwriter Zak Thomas are set to take a giant leap this October as they share their self-titled debut album, a record Zak wrote in his bedroom, and recorded in the unusual setting of his boutique tattoo shop, Still Hands, in Cardiff. Celebrating both the album’s announcement, and their biggest show to date supporting Runner last night, this week Muriel shared the latest taster of their album, in the shape of their new single, Lavender By The Frames.

Lavender By The Frames is at its heart a song about creativity, and trying not to worry about finding a purpose for it, as Zak explains, “this song celebrates letting go of that worry, instead indulging in the many forms creativity can take—relinquishing the struggle for definitions like ‘work or hobby, art or practice’ and settling into just doing“. A proudly lo-fi project, Muriel might be proud residents of Cardiff, yet their sound is more akin to the slow-core of American acts like Elvis Depressedly or Sparklehorse, people who deal more in texture and detail than they do grand sweeping statements. Here the track is largely propelled by the subtle twang of the nylon string guitar, which is joined by an ebbing backing of metronomic drums and a meandering lead guitar. The subtle complexity is mirrored in Zak’s vocal, a constant questioning presence, while his gentle delivery could easily be mistaken for melancholy, he’s actually quietly triumphant, as he throws clay, learns to sew and generally embraces creativity for creativity’s sake. Perhaps that too is where his music exists, in a place of creativity without expectation, yet as the band grow and the world takes note, don’t be surprised if people start to expect an awful lot from a band who are onto something quite special.

Muriel’s self-titled album is out October 13th via Venn Records. For more information on Muriel visit https://linktr.ee/murielband.

1. Umarells Are Not Here To Mess Around

Although they’re new to us, the various members of Umarells are certainly not new to each other, they are variously school friends, university housemates and most intriguingly colleagues at an Indian restaurant. Despite that long-term connection, it was only a spontaneous trip to the seaside town of Blackpool that really lit their musical flame, and inspired them to swap their, “dumb song about a type of lemonade”, for, “writing music properly”. Now signed to Fear Of Missing Our Records, the band are set to share their debut 7″ in November, and this week shared the first track from it, You’re Not Here.

A musing on walking away from the trappings of an unhealthy relationship, Imogen from the band describes You’re Not Here as, “a bit of a liberation song”, recalling how, “I wrote this when I felt free of a relationship and able to do as I please without being told I couldn’t”. Musically the track finds Umarells, a band whose name is lifted from the Italian word for retired men who watch construction sites offering unhelpful advice, in a dreamy musical space, tapping into some of Beach House’s more electric leaning moments alongside Imogen’s hushed and gently devastating vocals. The track starts with a gentle drift, growing in intensity throughout as it builds towards a cathartic crescendo, one Imogen describes as, “a bit of an ode to a siren”, as the guitars begin to wail with a loose intensity, the bass rumbles propulsivly and the vocals become a wordless howl before the wave breaks and a simple keyboard line takes the song home. A debut that shows both the band’s songwriting qualities and their sonic ambition, Umarells feel onto something special, a fresh sound in Manchester’s rich musical tapestry, and one well worth keeping an ear on in the months and years to come.

You’re Not Here / Closer is out November 3rd via Fear Of Missing Out Records. For more information on Umarells visit https://linktr.ee/umarells.band.

Header photo is Umarells by Mat Coffey.