“About Face” has to do with the change of direction the band took when Chris (drummer) and Andrew (bassist) joined NOTNORTH and we began to work together to create a new sound. It was like something clicked into place. And the idea of a turning also feels apropos to the concept of NOTNORTH at large. “About Face” also feels right for the touches of glam, the queerness, and the “giving face” so many of our community enjoy.
Fun fact: The album was primarily community-funded. “We raised 70% of the total cost on a GoFundMe. Isn’t that wild?!”
Self-proclaimed queer-punk band Not North, hailing from New York City, has once again delivered a fantastically theatrical EP. Frontman and songwriter David Thornton weaves together stories of love, lust, desire and regret, creating a collection that feels as much like a performance as it does a record. Thornton is already well known for his beautifully theatrical persona, delivering each song with an intensity that draws you in. There is something wonderfully dramatic about the way Not North tell their stories — the kind of performance that leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat and tapping your toes.
Thornton has previously been compared to Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and About Face certainly does little to dispel that comparison. From the first listen, there is an exciting sense of familiarity running through the EP. It feels new, but somehow instantly recognisable. The closest comparison I could initially find was Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, released in 1977, itself developed from Jim Steinman’s musical Neverland. There is a similarly grand, theatrical quality to the storytelling — songs that feel larger than life, unapologetically dramatic and designed to be performed rather than simply heard. Perhaps that is the best way to describe About Face: it doesn’t simply feel like an EP, it feels like your own personal show.
I was fortunate enough to receive a preview of About Face ahead of the release date, although there was one thing I was sworn to secrecy about. I knew there was a cover on the EP, but I wasn’t allowed to reveal which one….until now. “Im Too Sexy.” Yes, Not North have taken Right Said Fred’s iconic 1991 hit and given it their own queer-punk, theatrical treatment, and the timing makes that choice particularly poignant.
Throughout the bands existence, Thornton has been regularly compared to Tim Curry, whose portrayal of Dr Frank-N-Furter became one of the defining performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Curry sadly passed away on August 25 at the age of 80, just days before About Face was released. I had already heard “I’m Too Sexy” before Curry’s death. I already knew it was going to be the secret track I couldn't talk about. But hearing it now, in the immediate aftermath of losing one of the most recognisable and influential theatrical performers of his generation, gives the song an unexpected poignancy. Whether intentional or simply an extraordinary coincidence, it feels fitting.
Curry represented flamboyance, theatricality and the freedom to be completely and unapologetically yourself. Those qualities run through Not North’s music and Thornton’s performance style too. While “I’m Too Sexy” was never Curry’s song, its inclusion here feels like it belongs to the same wonderfully excessive universe of performance, sexuality and refusing to take yourself too seriously. But About Face is far more than its surprise cover.
Opening with “Of, Relating To, Or Affecting The Face”, the EP immediately establishes that Not North aren’;t interested in playing it safe. “Lookalike” and “Hedonistic” continue the exploration of identity, attraction and excess, while “Good News” adds another layer to the collection. Then comes “Somebody Told Me” — yes, that “Somebody Told Me”. Not North take the familiar track and given it their own stamp, proving that their theatricality works just as well when they’re interpreting someone else’s material.
Then there’s “Tongue Out”, followed by “Fix It”, before we reach possibly my favourite song title on the entire EP: “The One Where A Singer Dates A Couple And It Goes Badly.” Honestly, if that title alone doesn’t make you want to press play, I’m not sure what will. “Goodbye Friend” and “Sandbox” continue the journey before About Face reaches its flamboyant finale with “I’m Too Sexy.”
There is a wonderfully chaotic quality to Not North. They aren’t afraid of drama, humour, sexuality or excess. They embrace all of it, throw it at the wall and somehow make it work, and that’s what makes About Face so much fun. It doesn’t feel overly polished to the point of losing its personality. Instead, there is a sense that Not North know exactly who they are and have absolutely no intention of apologising for it. Thornton’s theatrical delivery gives the songs character, while the subject matter moves comfortably between the humorous, the provocative and the more emotionally vulnerable.
There is lust. There is heartbreak. There is questionable decision-making. There are relationships that probably should have ended considerably sooner. And, apparently, there is a singer who dates a couple and discovers that perhaps three really isn’t the magic number. It’s queer. It’s punk. It’s theatrical. It’s ridiculous in exactly the right places.
Not North – September 2026 UK & Ireland Tour
7 September — Newcastle upon Tyne — The Globe
8 September — Leeds — Leeds Venue
9 September — Wrexham — ReVibed Records
10 September — Dublin — The Sound House
11 September — Newry — Newry Venue
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