Industry news & advice blog

Orin - ‘Don’t Walk Away’

Unveiling his 3 track EP ‘I Think I Get What You Mean’ back in March, Nigerian, UK based artist Orin blends nostalgia, storytelling and culture into modern Afrobeats and Alté, infusing his trademark warmth, humour and authenticity into his songwriting.

His single ‘Don’t Walk Away’ marks the beginning of a new era, showcasing a minimalist soundscape. Orin has previously collaborated with artists including Ice Prince, Dami Oniru, Tim Lyre, Somadina, Straffiti, GCL3F, Tochi Bedford, and Joyce Olong, and has emerged with a clearer direction for a new phase of his solo career.

On the topic of the EP, which has notched an impressive 40k streams since its release, Orin says; “A big part of of being a Nigerian who left the country at a young age and growing up in the UK is that you never quite fully feel like a part of either; you are constantly interpreting and trying to make sense of it to people, but at the same time you identify with both so much. You spend so much time trying to understand, trying to bridge and trying to live so you end up with that phrase “I Think I Get What You Mean”. That’s what this EP is all about. Trying to understand love, loss and the joy we find within.”

Having recently sold out the Ambi Room RnB London showcase, Orin will be opening for Emiko on 26th May at The Lower Third. More performances are in store, as well as plans for another EP to be released in the summer, so keep it locked for more news and fresh material from Orin.

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Boxing Club - ‘Father & State’

Straddling London and Glasgow, gritty post punk band Boxing Club have been making rapid strides since their debut single ‘Barbra’ was unveiled in September 2025, generating early radio airplay from the likes of BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, XFM’s John Kennedy, RTÉ 2FM and Amazing Radio.

Band member Scott sums up the four-piece’s impactful sound; “Direct, urgent post-punk. Gritty and confrontational but rooted in real stories - somewhere between Fontaines D.C., IDLES and The Fall. It’s music that doesn’t try to soften the edges.”

Fast forward to 2026, and February has already seen the release of Boxing Club’s debut EP ‘What’s the State Done to You?’, produced by Michael Smith (RYP Recordings), which they celebrated with a sold out gig at The Grace in London.

The band reveal the impetus behind the lead single from the EP, ‘Father & State’; “It looks at cycles of damage - how family, environment and wider systems shape (and sometimes derail) a person’s life. It’s based on real situations but pushed into something more direct and uncomfortable. It doesn’t offer an answer.”

With their releases to date driving editorial playlist support across Apple Music, Amazon Music and Deezer, plus frenetic headline shows in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, it certainly seems that Boxing Club’s star is ascending fast.

The coming months will bring more new material, some live dates that will be announced soon, plus a slot at Isle of Wight Festival this summer. Make sure you’re along for the ride.

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May Kolta - ‘Tides Right’

London-based alt pop, folk and jazz musician May Kolta is serving up a dreamy, melodic, country pop gem in the form of ‘Tides Right’, perfect for sunny Spring days.

Working by day as a sound engineer, producer and session musician at studios including Abbey Road and RAK, May has utilised her technical skills to bring her music to life. Her debut EP ‘Nest’ was self-engineered, produced and mixed, and she explains how single ‘Tides Right’ is perfect to lead from one EP project to another;

“Tides Right uses folky / country pop to bridge the genres of my previous EP and my upcoming EP. My next project has influences such as Nick Drake, Khruangbin, and Fleetwood Mac to be more acoustic folk pop. This project is about embracing femininity and beauty. I actually wrote this track in about 5 minutes. My partner at the time was messing around with different chords on his guitar on a lazy weekend morning. He played the A6 chord which you hear at the beginning of the song which I liked and he then went for a shower. I had written all the lyrics and melody by the time he got back. We were together during university and our course was coming to an end. We were planning to move back home to our parents and probably wouldn’t stay together after that so I wrote this song about savouring the last moments of a relationship and wondering whether you’d ever find a way back to each other.”

Garnering support from the likes of Hot Vox and BBC Introducing Oxford, May is now focusing on her new EP, set to drop at the end of the year. It’s a concept project touching on the journey of healing from abusive relationships to finding healthy love again, with each song using a food metaphor to describe the various stages, e.g. her track ‘Artichoke Heart’ is about a guarded exterior shielding a tender heart.

But in the meantime, exciting times lie ahead as she’ll be playing her first headline gig later this month at Chelsea Pizza Express Live on 21st May. And she assures us that more shows are in the pipeline ready for the launch of EP #2, so watch this space.

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Slaney Bay - ‘That’s Cool’

Describing their sound as “the music you’d listen to on a long car ride home. Allowing yourself to feel everything for 3 or 4 minutes before getting on with your day to day life”, London four-piece Slaney Bay are making their mark with their bewitching brand of alt pop, perfectly exhibited on their dreamy single ‘That’s Cool’.

Vocalist Cait elaborates on how the song materialised; “It came from a moment of creative freedom. I think in our earlier days as a band, we were a bit more worried about whether our music would be received well or be ‘punchy’ enough. Whereas for ‘That’s Cool’, we all just loved how relaxed and fun it felt. We thought, “why not enjoy experimenting with this single?” The song explores lighter, flirtier topics of a romantic fling with a friend. I think it really taught us that music doesn’t need to be ‘heavy’ emotionally to still have an emotional impact.”

Over the last few years the band have enjoyed some stand-out moments, from playing at The Great Escape to doing a BBC Live Lounge session in Brighton, gathering praise from the likes of Dork, Billboard, Under The Radar, The Line of Best Fit, plus BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders and BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 Music, among others.

On the live front Slaney Bay have supported the likes of Coach Party, Bleach Lab, Sinéad O’Brien and The Clockworks, and have spread their wings on the EU festival circuit at Rotterdam’s Left of the Dial and They’re Gonna Be Big in Paris.

Drummer Jonny pinpoints a couple of his personal “bucket list tickers”, including performing at Camden’s Roundhouse a couple of years back; “It’s a huge venue and really just something you never think will happen, so when we did it, it was a real pinch me moment.”, and having the chance to play across Europe, in particular their sold-out show in Paris at Supersonic. “It was insane, and the room was so packed you couldn’t even get up the stairs to the second floor because it was full of people!”

With another single on its way soon, as well as new material, Slaney Bay also have another project in the works, as Jonny explains; “We’ve actually been having a documentary made about us for the past year and a half or so that follows what it’s like in the music industry as a band that’s really pushing, and it follows our entire third EP release, some shows across Europe, and all the highs and lows we’ve experienced recently.”

The documentary is due to be released towards the end of the summer, so definitely one to stay tuned for!

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Bugeye - ‘Comfortably Numb’

With a new album on the horizon, we checked in with Croydon queer electro-pop band Bugeye as their current single ‘Comfortably Numb’ is soaring.

Guitarist and vocalist Angela gives us the lowdown on Bugeye’s intriguing, distinctive sound; “We make kinetic, genre-bending alt-rock for the dancefloor. If St Vincent was doing shots at the bar with Bones UK served up by Gary Numan you might have our sound nailed.”

Already on the receiving end of positive reviews from Louder Than War and Thisisthemusic, plus copious airplay from the likes of Radio X’s John Kennedy, BBC Introducing, Loud Women and BBC 6Music’s Amy Lame, we were keen to hear more about the impetus behind the track;

“Comfortably Numb is a dark, atmospheric, driving track built around pulsing beats, gritty guitars and vocal lines that stay hooky but feel slightly on edge. Mainly recorded in the wee small hours at our home studio before bringing the parts into a studio with Ash Workman to mix, we wanted to create something that combined those big 80s synth hooks, industrial guitars but with a blend of pop undertones to bind it together. This felt right musically as the theme of the song came from that push-pull feeling of a night out where everything feels euphoric and completely in the moment, but there’s also this underlying sense of unease that creeps in as things unfold. That shift between freedom and anxiety runs right through the track.”

Despite all the media support, Bugeye are not losing sight of what is most important to them; “Honestly, the thing that matters most is just building a proper audience over time, our “bugs”. It still feels slightly surreal when people turn up who we don’t know, who’ve just found the music and decided to come to a gig. That’s the bit that means the most to us, more than anything else.”

Currently showing off their chops on the live circuit, Bugeye have recently played some spectacular shows alongside the likes of Cheerbleederz, Millie Manders & the Shut Up, Snake Eyes and Tiny Stills. And their spring/summer schedule is equally on fire, with festival slots at Bullet Festival and Trowbridge Fest on the agenda. Before then, you can catch Bugeye playing the Hairy Dog in Derby on 10th May with Loose Articles, and then at Brighton Quarters on 23rd May supporting Dodgy.

Beyond their brand new single, which is out now called ‘These Walls Will Fall’, all roads lead to their second album release ‘The Shape of Things’ which will drop on 15th May on INH Records.

“It feels like a big step forward for us. We’ve also got a run of UK shows lined up, plus our own album release party on 13 June at The Grace in London, which we’re really looking forward to. We have a few surprises up our sleeves for the launch party to make it extra special. It’s just a lot of playing live and getting the new music out into the world, which is exactly where we want to be right now.”

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