Gallery: The Rabbitts grace the stage at HPBC

Jade Pharoah on 7 March 2025

Last month The Rabbitts, a Norwich-based folk band, gave an ethereal performance at Hyde Park Book Club. The cosy snug was full as the genre-blending band performed songs from their most recent EP Salthouse (2024).

Words and Images by Jade Pharoah

Image Credits: Jade Pharoah

Pizza Pilgrims Launches £6.50 Student Deal

GryphonEditorAdm on 5 March 2025

Pizza Pilgrims have cemented their spot in the Leeds foodie hall of fame, launching an unbeatable, and unmissable student offer. Get it whilst it’s hot!

Students who present a valid Student ID card can now enjoy a Nduja or Margherita pizza for £6.50 in their Leeds pizzeria. With vegan options available, and the offer running from Monday to Friday, why are you not making your way down there already?

Haven’t heard of Pizza Pilgrims?

Born in 2012, founders Thom and James quit their jobs to pursue the true art of pizza making, picking up an authentic three-wheel Piaggio Ape van, traipsing 4,500km back to London! Inspiring, huh? One thing is for sure, they definitely put the ‘pilgrimage’ into pizza!

This dough-fuelled passion is the true heart and soul of Pizza Pilgrims. Their Leeds home perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of an authentic Neapolitan-style pizzeria. With their checkered-tables, and Italian football-shirt clad roof, the experience is complete with unbeatable topping combinations, and must-have mouth-watering sauces and dips (including their legendary hot honey drizzle, and pesto aioli!)

Whether it’s date night, lunch with friends, or a solo-date, Pizza Pilgrims should be number one on your list.

Walk-ins and bookings now available at: https://www.pizzapilgrims.co.uk/

Preacher’s Daughter or Pervert’s Son?

Cassia Bennett on 27 February 2025

In a radio session where she played her whole 90 minute new album, Ethel Cain instructs listeners to ‘lie in a dark room and think what you want about it’. I would have to agree that this is probably the best way to experience the newest project Perverts (2025). It’s the kind of music that you just have to let wash over you while you allow your mind to wander through the slow instrumentals and mournful vocals. Reminiscent of a bleak January day, it feels drawn out, cold and grey but in a way that somehow manages to be comforting and unsettling at the same time. Long periods of distorted noise and ambient instrumentals melt into soft melodies with simple, repetitive lyrics that have the effect of seeing shapes through a thick fog. 

Back in 2022, Cain’s debut studio album Preacher’s Daughter garnered critical acclaim and widespread internet fame with the single ‘American Teenager’ becoming popular on TikTok and even making it onto Obama’s favourite music list of 2022. Where Preacher’s Daughter was a concept album with a strong narrative, Perverts is not a continuation, though Cain has maintained the same uniquely Midwestern horror that makes her music so dark. Where Preacher’s Daughter told a tale of family trauma, sexual assault, murder and cannibalism, drawing on inspiration from her own relationship with identity and religion, her latest record seems to lean more into an exploration of religious and philosophical ideas.

Cain’s opening track Perverts is a 12-minute track of distorted vocals reciting the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee’. This is followed by periodic, electronic drones before melting into ‘Punish’. First released as a single back in November, Cain returns to her darker storytelling with the sound of a creaking swing and simple piano chords overlayed with distorted electric guitar, which will become a recurring presence throughout the album. ‘Houseofpsychoticwomn’ has a sort of pulsating white noise with hushed voices that make it hard to distinguish what’s being said, other than the repeated phrases of ‘I do’ and ‘I love you’. It feels like you’ve jumped into a washing machine whilst trying to eavesdrop on a conversation, but someone turned it on and now you’re stuck in an hour-long cycle of soapy water. This transitions into the slow drum beat and soothing vocals of ‘Vacillator’, with a melodic repetition of ‘If you love me, keep it to yourself’. ‘Onanist’ continues with distorted electric guitars and vocals that build to become a static climax and ‘Etienne’ is a much more peaceful instrumental of piano and acoustic guitar. ‘Thatorcia’ is fully instrumental with Cain’s gentle humming that makes me picture myself walking through an echoey church, which leads into the final track, ‘Amber Waves’ – one of my favourites – that flows, soothing and supine.

In ‘Pulldrone’ Cain speaks over a droning siren-esque noise listing her ‘pillars of Simulacra’, a concept based on Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation (1981) a cornerstone of modern philosophy which proposed that our sense of the real has been superseded by the ‘hyperreal’ – that is, an understanding of the material world based not on first-hand experience, but memories of replications of material reality. Baudrillard explained that, due to the modern nature of media and marketing, the line between reality and re-presented reality has become increasingly blurred. Whilst in the context of the album these pillars likely refer to a sort of spiritual ascendance, this could also be seen as a continuation of her response to Preacher’s Daughter’s reception. After publicly rejecting the fame she received for her first studio album, Cain criticised the internet for nurturing an ‘irony epidemic’ that tends to treat art with flippancy, stating ‘Don’t let the joke about it overtake the source material’. This album seems to resist the ‘irony epidemic’ Cain criticises, and the idea that meme-ified iterations of her artistic output could reduce, or replace, the impact of her work likely echoes Baudrillard’s theory.

Interestingly, Cain seems to mostly communicate with fans through her Tumblr account (yes, I did make a Tumblr account for this and it did crash my laptop). Considered by many as a dead form of social media and mostly associated with dramatic teenage girls of the late 2000s and early 2010s, it may seem like an odd place for an artist to share their work. However, following this sentiment that we dismiss too much as ‘cringe’, embracing this form of media that stereotypically has this ‘cringe’ reputation may be her way of combating this new lack of sincerity in social media.Whilst fans still seem to appreciate the new album, it hasn’t captured the larger audience that Preacher’s Daughter did and that was probably intentional, given Cain’s disdain for the attention she previously received. This seems to be a common theme amongst artists who quickly amassed internet fame on a platform that reduces attention span and promotes sound bites over full songs, with Chappell Roan famously shunning the limelight earlier this year. Creating 10 minute slowcore songs does seem like a logical way to reduce your fanbase to those who simply appreciate your music. For this reason, despite Cain’s popularity with the past US President, I doubt Perverts will make it to the White House, though it may be more fitting, considering the current US government. Even though I initially liked the album, it’s grown on me the more I’ve listened to it and I highly recommend listening the whole way through once, though I do understand that it’s not to some people’s tastes (housemates have told me to turn off my scary music before).

Written by Cassia Bennett

Albums Turning 25 in ’25

Joseph Macaulay on 27 February 2025

As the 21st century reaches the quarter-decade mark, its time for a look back at the albums that heralded in the new millennium and have left a lasting musical impact. Here’s five of the most important records that turn 25 this year!

Kid A – Radiohead

Between 1997’s OK Computer and Kid A you can hear a millennium sized sonic shift that left many Radiohead fans bewildered. This wildly experimental LP is a far cry from the Britpop sounds of their 90s releases, and it was with this album that the enigma of Radiohead was consolidated. Cited by many of your favourite electronic artists as their favourite album, it remains as intriguing as ever 25 years on. 

The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem 

With his third release, Slim Shady is at the height of his lyrical powers. Ringing in the new millennium with the opening ‘Public Service Announcement 2000’, with an attitude as abrasive as ever and a vocabulary just as vulgar, Eminem cemented himself as the man ‘God sent to piss the world off’. Which he did.

Parachutes – Coldplay 

It’s hard to reconcile the intergalactic-arena-soundscape of modern Coldplay with their quieter beginnings, but their debut launched the band into instant stardom. Chris Martin’s tender voice and the bands heart-string-tugging composition marked a sonic departure in British guitar music, away from the bombast of Britpop and into a more emotional age. Parachutes remains their best-selling record to date and helped usher in a new age of indie music. 

Stankonia – Outkast 

Stankonia set the bar for 21st century hip-hop Olympically high with Outkast’s funk filled medley of eccentricity, brilliantly catchy pop, and some of the most highly acclaimed lyrical delivery of all time. This was a new sound for a new millennium, and one that can be heard in countless hip-hop records of the last couple of decades. Big Boi and André 3000 at their very best. 

Hybrid Theory – Linkin Park 

The astronomic success of Linkin Park’s debut saw nu metal reach dizzying heights as the millennium began. It’s hard to think of a more raw performer than frontman Chester Bennington, who put mental health battles in the spotlight in a very profound way. Following his tragic death in 2017, the band was on hold until late last year as they returned with their eighth studio album From Zero. Extending their immense legacy into the 2020s, Hybrid Theory was the record that started it all.

Written by Joseph Macaulay

Adult DVD. Sold Out. In The Round.

Freddie Waterland on 24 February 2025

Adult DVD. Sold out. 1am start time. In the round.  

Adult DVD’s hometown gig at the Belgrave Music Hall was as chaotically energetic as anyone who is even vaguely familiar with their music could expect. ‘Yacht Money’ and ‘Hot Set’ provided the ideal start, an unapologetic blend of punchy vocals from lead singer Harry Hanson, strong riffs and as much influence from the synths as could be imagined with no less than four on stage, encapsulating in microcosm the band’s distinctive sound. Often made comparisons to LCD Soundsystem are not without merit, but only by listening to their classification defying acid/electronic/dance rock can one begin to grasp what Adult DVD are about. 

Simply put, the ‘in the round’ aspect of the gig – where the band stood in a circle essentially amongst the crowd, in an intimate ‘boiler room’ style – worked brilliantly. Perhaps the main beneficiary (apart from the crowd) was drummer Jonathan Newell; no longer relegated to the back of the stage behind a wall of equipment, the pulse Newell provided not only provided the perfect complement to the synths but deservedly took the spotlight at times.

‘7 foot 1’ and ‘Dogs In the Sun’ were both well crafted and compiled without losing the jazzy electricity that makes the band unique. They provided the perfect build up to the highlight of the night, ‘Do something’. A cacophonous soundscape as full of relentless dynamism as the rest of their music, ‘Do something’ retains lyrical sardonicism whilst being undeniably catchy. This combines to give a sense of forward motion – surely emblematic of the band’s trajectory in the coming years.

The remainder of the set basked in the playful peculiarity of the moment. It is not every day at 2AM you are stood, essentially engulfed by a dance/rock band, above an (albeit excellent) canteen in Leeds’s Northern Quarter, but as the industrious ‘Sadman Mancave’ faded into the joyfully crazy ‘Bill Murray’, it became apparent it’s something that should happen more often. 

Written by Freddie Waterland

Inhaler: Open Wide – the new era of Inhaler is here 

Daniel Brown on 19 February 2025

Inhaler; we know the score by now. Commanders of the nepo-baby debate in music, generals of the vibrant Dublin music scene, loyal servants to that glamorous indie rock and roll. A frontman who’s the son to a king of rock, imaginary boyfriend to a million fangirls. But is that where the story ends?  Following their first two full releases, the pandemic plagued It Won’t Always Be Like This (2021) and sophomore outing Cuts and Bruises (2023), the Irish four-piece have released their latest project Open Wide (2025), a passion driven exploration into love, authenticity and what the creation of music means to them. 

With two albums under their belts, Inhaler could seem set in their groove. Pick a country and they could sell out a show there, pick a song and they can play it to a rowdy and rambunctious crowd that will sing it back to them, ask them to pick a lane and a problem arises. For an artist finding ‘their sound’ is no mean feat, but one would argue that being defined by a sound and being able to subvert that in an appealing, necessary and logical way is a much meaner one (see the parting of Arctic Monkeys fans like the red sea following the conceptual Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino (2018)). Nevertheless, Inhaler have taken a deep breath (too on the nose?) and strove for this album to represent their genuine selves, even if that means outgrowing their indie-rock roots. It’s evident the group have shed their skin with this album and embraced the pop elements that encapsulate so many of their greater qualities – the infectious melodies, the catchy hook, the screamable chorus, and to call a spade a spade – this is a pop-rock album. Gone is the very loosely tied label of indie (I mean how independent can you be when signed to Polydor records), with Inhaler striving to break free from any chains being recognised as an “indie band” might thrust upon them. 

The album opens with ‘Eddie in the Darkness’- who Eddie is and what he is doing in the darkness is still unclear, but at the very least he mimics the slew of Inhaler fans entering this album in the dark. Following a series of single releases – none of which the same, all of which noticeable deviations from the band’s pre-established formula, fans were left to wonder what had become of the Irish rockers. Whilst the album is a stark departure from the quartet’s first album outing It Won’t Always Be Like This (2021), ‘Eddie in the Darkness’ eases listeners into the change, still containing notes of the Inhaler fans fell in love with a glam-rock twist, gearing them up for what is to come and as such it becomes the crux of this new era. 

If Inhaler has always known how to do one thing, it’s how to etch a catchy tune onto the grooves of your brain that infects every subsequent thought and shower concert you have (if my housemates are reading this, I can only apologise). ‘Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah)’ and ‘A Question of You’ in particular wrap strings around your arms and legs with their shimmering guitar riffs and punchy drumbeats, puppeteering you into a bop regardless of your setting. Similarly, choruses of ‘Concrete’ and ‘Little Things’ could coax out the voice of those most quiet and scale it to the size of a choir. The groove is well and truly alive throughout the album – taking a life of its own, a life perhaps given by collaboration with Kid Harpoon. The British producer of Harry’s House (2022) fame was given the trust of Inhaler and tasked with translating their lofty pop dreams of authenticity and groove into a tight 13 track album. His influence is palpable, with several songs coming straight from his catalogue of synth-pop mega-tunes designed for the biggest stages. 

Elijah Hewson really pushes his vocal performance, squeezing every drop out of his vast vocal range, less so in the classic sense of pushing his upper limit – but instead displaying a lower timber which compliments the building verses on many a track. Drummer Ryan McMahon gives a rhythmic and tight performance which bassist Robert Keating builds upon with his bold and striking basslines. Ultimately though Josh Jenkinson, lead guitarist of the band, is the absolute standout. His lead sections ebb and flow – calling out to the listeners at exactly the right moments without overpowering the symbiosis of the final product. He is a true chameleon, dancing between genres and sifting through rhythms; with country-infused riffs on songs like ‘X-Ray’ and much funkier melodies on tracks like ‘A Question Of You’. 

This album, beyond its sonic characteristics can be defined by love- a word synonymous with Inhaler some might say. Their first ever single, ‘I Want You’, an obvious tale of youthful love, my personal favourite track of theirs, ‘Love Will Get You There’, an homage to the importance of intimacy, and their fans, well loving would be a bloody understatement (Pre-gig queueing is scheduled to be added to the next Olympics as an endurance event thanks to their questionably motivated efforts). The band’s latest outing is no different with love being the key tenant of most songs. The lyrical direction of the album has devotion and adoration brimming at the surface and there’s an easy thread of passion to follow throughout the project, giving listeners an immediate and heartfelt connection to the songs. ‘Your House’ and ‘The Charms’ in particular capture this passion in their lyrics- calling out to many a hopeless romantic who may be hearing this album in (a potentially) bleak mid-February. 

Open Wide (2025) depicts Inhaler at the peak of their powers. Gone is that youthful naivety of an accused nepo-baby indie band and in its place – a charismatic and poised pop-rock authenticity that serves as a statement of intent. A statement of intent of a band who have cultivated their sound and are ready to show it off on the biggest stage.  Prying the love of that good ol’ indie music from the tight grips of the wild diehard Inhaler fan is no easy feat, but the Dublin four-piece have dug their claws in and ripped the arms of their legion of admirers open wide, ready to embrace their new era. 

Written by Dan Brown

In Conversation with The Murder Capital: No words have lost meaning here for upcoming album Blindness

Millie Cain on 18 February 2025

Millie Cain chats to The Murder Capital’s Cathal Roper discussing their forthcoming 3rd album, their tour with Nick Cave, and independent record stores. 

Blindness, The Murder Capital’s stormy 3rd album opens with an older track, ‘Moonshot’, that Cathal described as a “wall of sound, it wasn’t a song we had worked on really. James already had played it on acoustic – we wanted to open the record with a drop on the needle. Gigi [2nd Album, Gigi’s Recovery (2023)] is very cinematic, with a lot of world building in that. A lot of our fave records you press play and it just starts right – and ‘Moonshot’ really does that.” 

Ahead of Blindness’ 21st February release, they’ve released 3 singles, most standout being ‘Words Lost Meaning’. “Gabe had the bassline, he was having an argument with his girlfriend at the time and came out with that and it just so happened that when James put lyrics down that it was in the same vein – weird coincidence. We wrote that in Dublin, and it didn’t change much except the 3rd verse, with building guitars. It felt like a single straight away, the others weren’t as clear. ‘Words Lost Meaning’ felt like it was going to do what a single has to do.” 

Huge anticipation awaits their forthcoming tour, starting with record shops up and down the UK, then a headline April tour. This is off the back of The Murder Capital’s coveted support slot touring with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at the end of last year. “Nick Cave – it was lovely, we got to have dinner with him one night, very nice and honest man, pretty funny. He’s an incredible performer, and we got to perform songs from Blindness that we hadn’t played.”

In terms of Blindness as an album, The Murder Capital have taken a step away from the concentrated structure of Gigi’s Recovery (2023). ”Gigi’s was heavily demoed, and Blindess was less so, honestly it was done on purpose. Gigi didn’t really grow much in the studio from what we already had, getting together with John [Congleton] we wanted to go to the studio and all the songs to change and grow. Things were so rigid with Gigi – we wanted that growth.”

“It honestly feels like funnily enough a merge of the first 2 records, there was such a reaction to the first one that we didn’t want to do anything to the first one, we were almost insecure about it representing all of us. And Gigi’s was so cinematic and world building that we missed the urgency of the first record, but we missed the texture. Blindness is more confident, self assured, in ourselves and our sound and makes the first record make a bit more sense too.”

“We had rehearsals last week for these instores, we played ‘Moonshot’ together for the first time. We had all recorded it separately on the last day of recording and it was all mixed together by John, so it was really good to see it come together.”

Alongside the Record Store Tour, The Murder Capital are hitting tons of independent venues in April, including the Brudenell on the 21 and 22nd. In terms of focusing on these venues, Cathal relayed how they chose the stops for their tour with “a conversation between us and our agent, I love the Brudenell. Nathan who runs it always really looks after us too so we’re so excited to play there again.” 

A favourite on the album for Cathal is ‘Train On The Wing’. “I’m excited for people to hear it, it’s a more laid back song and more of the sort of stuff I’ve been playing since I was 16, and ‘Swallow’ as well. The guitar work there is an Irish traditional approach I went for – yeah I’m just really happy with how it turned out.” 

Blindness itself was a theme of the record “it feels like a good word for all the topics that are discussed on the records. How do we encompass these? It’s generally about introspection, looking inside yourself, what makes the decisions and reactions you have and how that manifests itself out in the world. It’s a focus on your peripheral vision, the abstract of the everyday and blindness felt like the perfect word for that.”

For album 3, The Murder Capital leant into their influences of The Cure and The Velvet Underground. “James was really into a phase of Suicide (1977), for myself I was listening to a lot of Big Thief. I love Adrianne Lenker and everything she does. And this great record by Cameron Winter called Heavy Metal – that record he did is incredible, it has me in tears a lot of the time. That song ‘Drinking Age’ is probably one of the best songs  – I really hope that record blows up more.” As do we, as Heavy Metal was certainly a standout 2024 album, if not a generational one. 

The Murder Capital’s 3rd Album Blindness will be available on Friday 21st February 2025, and will be on tour at Brudenell 21st & 22nd April 2025. 

Written by Millie Cain

The Next Service to Depart from Platform 1 is The Brian Jonestown Massacre Express 

Joseph Macaulay on 18 February 2025

The Brian Jonestown Massacre have long had a divisive reputation as a live act. The more than thirty members who have come and gone over the last thirty-five years are testimony to the internal frictions that have given Anton Newcombe and co. such notoriety. In 2023, they made headlines for an onstage brawl culminating in Newcombe’s wielding of a guitar against one of his bandmates. It was with some trepidation, therefore, that I crossed to the other side of the tracks and ventured to the Leeds Beckett Student Union. 

I have never been at a gig quite like it. The band take to the stage, denim-clad, feather-hat-sporting, and with heavily tinted sunglasses, no doubt to hide the countless nervous glances fired Newcombe’s way. He takes his place and flicks over the first page of his laminated lyric book. We wait with bated breath. The band waits for their leader’s cue. A subtle nod of the head, and this psychedelic steam train heaves into motion. For the next two hours, we ride tracks of hypnotic guitar noise, layers of tambourine and head-jerking percussion, and the cool vocals of this hazy locomotive’s crackpot conductor. 

We plunge through musical landscapes. At times, more concrete forms of a pop riff or vocal hook swim into view before plunging back into the foggy horizon, all the while punctuated by a steady tambourine groove that reminds you that you haven’t yet derailed. Among these landmarks are the likes of ‘Anemone’, the band’s most famous and accessible tune, that washes over the spectator in an effortless wave of rhythm and jangling guitar lines. ‘When Jokers Attack’ and ‘Pish’ stand out too, but all blend into a backdrop of blissful psychedelic groove, a ride so smooth that it does sometimes leave passengers slipping into a lethargic doze, though never ceasing in gently nodding their heads. 

Songs begin to feel amorphous, and I do find myself seeking some auditory refreshment. Moments later, and a slick bassline or guitar line pulls me back in. There’s a kind of musical game of cat and mouse at play here, where Anton Newcombe lounges in his own brilliant, startling, divine genius and at the point where you want to shout something at him just to snap yourself out of his spell, in another masterful stroke he beats you to it and says, “look at this!” and blows your mind. 

As the train rounds the final bend, the Brian Jonestown Massacre vista is wide open for all to see. They are self-indulgent, their songs do kind of sound the same, but it doesn’t matter. You can’t help but be drawn in by their hypnotic rhythms and softly spoken rhymes. And as I am about to be lulled into a deep sleep, the final track proves a final twist in the tale. The sitar backed melody of ‘Super – Sonic’ evokes The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. It’s swirling and disarming, thoroughly enchanting. Now, this I could listen to forever. 

I think I’m about to attain nirvana. I’m on the brink of the abyss. I’m flying, floating, endlessly, blissfully…

Then the song finishes and the lights come on in the Beckett Student Union, where this service terminates.

Folk-pop perfection: Katy J Pearson transcends genre boundaries at Leeds Irish Centre

Francesca Lynes on 10 February 2025

If you haven’t made it to Leeds Irish Centre yet, you have to take a look at their What’s On page and head on over. The very least you can expect is to enjoy the 1970s living room decor with a perfect pint of Guinness in hand. Pair that with a feel-good gig like Katy J Pearson, and it’s a perfect evening. I arrived knowing a few of her tracks but by the time I left, I felt like I’d just been to one of the best gigs of my life so far. Since I got back to my flat that night, her new album Someday, Now (2024) is one I played repeatedly until the end of term. 

Glancing at the merch table as I entered the venue, I was surprised to spot beautifully handmade brooches and trinkets with the label: ‘ALL JEWELLERY HANDMADE BY DANA GAVANSKI’ written in black Sharpie. I turned to face the stage to see Gavanski perched on a chair, acoustic guitar on lap, singing to an audience surprisingly quiet for a support act (a respectful hush which is, unfortunately, all too rare). I moved closer and enjoyed her final few songs of the evening. Looking around at the crowd – a mix of older and younger people, friends and families, it was clear that Gavanski’s synthy indie pop and almost mournful vocals was enough to charm those awaiting Pearson. 

Katy J Pearson and band impressed with a set list that encompassed her discography so far, interspersed with songs from the newest release Someday, Now (2024). They began with the album opener ‘Those Goodbyes’ followed by two tracks from earlier records, by which time Pearson and her band had established an atmosphere of joy. They all seemed chuffed to be there and I wondered if this was the feeling they create and share every evening? It felt unique to the room that night, though the on-stage rapport was familiar and extended to the rest of the room. This mutual enjoyment between musicians and crowd made for a night of unexpected comedy. With jokes being shared and shouted across the room (a particular mention goes to witty guitarist Benjamin Saunders and Katy herself) meant that at one point, the friend I was with whispered to me, ‘Is this a gig or a stand-up set?’.

Despite a strong pop influence in Katy J Pearson’s music, the depth to her tone and lyrical ability amplified as she manipulated her voice and setlist to direct the gig toward a more melancholic, contemplative state. Pearson signposted this shift with a cover of Vashti Bunyan’s ‘Winter is Blue’. The themes of Bunyan’s music, along with the finger-plucking guitar led her perfectly into ‘Return’, from Pearson’s 2020 album of the same name. This was the most heart-touching moment; a rumination on personal change, relationships and a journeying through life. A tear in my eye, and in many of those of the people around me, the warmth of Pearson’s gig was a comfort in the cold of a Leeds December.


The set ended with the most dance-y of Pearson’s singles ‘Take Back the Radio’, a fan favourite from 2020. Focus on the crowd’s experience was sustained through a joyous encore and I left Leeds Irish Centre feeling a genuine connection to the breadth of emotion in Pearson’s music as well as a desire to return to this special venue. For anyone who hasn’t seen Katy J Pearson live, I hope you too get to see her and her band someday, now.

Written by Francesca Lynes