Riley!’s new EP, To Live and Die in the American South, arrives as a defining moment for a band who have spent the last few years quietly becoming one of modern emo’s most compelling young voices. Their roots in South Texas have always shaped their sound, scrappy, heartfelt, and steeped in the realities of growing up somewhere far off the map, but this release marks a clear evolution. The five tracks feel more polished, more intentional, and more digestible than anything they’ve done before, without losing the wholesome EMO heart and edgy alternative bite that first endeared them to fans

Beabadoobee has entered her Pylon era with intent. Fresh from premiering the track with Zane Lowe on Apple’s New Music Daily, she’s released Switchblade, the second single from her forthcoming album Pylon, out 18 September via Dirty Hit and Interscope Records. It’s a release that sharpens the emotional edges of her songwriting while widening the sonic world she’s building around this new chapter.

Southern California post‑hardcore heavyweights Movements are entering a new chapter, one defined by emotional depth, sonic expansion, and a sharpened sense of identity. Their fourth album, Happier Now, lands 4th September 2026 via Fearless Records, and the band have marked the moment with the release of Separate, a brooding, slow‑burning track that closes the record with unexpected intensity.

Cornwall’s Eden Project has hosted countless unforgettable nights across its 25‑year history, but before a single chord rang out, the atmosphere inside the arena already told its own story. A sea of NOFX and Bowling for Soup T‑shirts stretched across the crowd, punctuated by a plethora of Frank Turner tees, especially the iconic Not Dead Yet design, worn proudly by fans who’ve followed him through every era. The ages were beautifully mixed: younger fans buzzing for their first taste of these bands, older die‑hards who’ve lived through the pop‑punk boom, and a huge contingent of middle‑aged folk who grew up on the very sounds that would soon be pouring from the speakers.

Trauma Party are one of those rare bands who manage to turn urgency into electricity. Born on Waiheke Island and sharpened by relentless touring across Aotearoa, the four‑piece have carved out a sound that fuses garage‑punk with post‑punk and a sly pop sensibility. Their latest single, Speak to Me, is a vivid example: a taut, motorik, chant‑driven wake‑up call that confronts loneliness, delusion, and the quiet slide toward society’s fringes. Its accompanying video, filmed at The Woolshed on the Waiheke Dirt Track, humanises those who feel unheard, pairing political tension with emotional honesty while still landing as an energetic live favourite. With their debut EP Because You’ve Been Good already making waves on student radio and a full‑length album on the horizon, Trauma Party are stepping into 2026 with momentum, conviction, and a sharpened sense of purpose, making now the perfect moment to sit down with them for a deeper conversation.

Westside Cowboy’s Bristol date at Electric on Friday 4 December arrives at a pivotal moment for a band whose ascent has been impossible to ignore. Their debut album It Goes On lands on 21 August, setting the tone for a breakthrough year that includes a run of intimate in‑store shows across August and September, a European tour in October and November, and their biggest UK headline tour to date through November and December. The Bristol show sits right in the heart of this momentum, offering fans the chance to catch a band in full stride as they step into the next phase of their rise.

The Snuts’ ascent has been one of the most compelling stories in modern British guitar music, a band who’ve refused to play by anyone’s rules but their own, and somehow turned that independence into chart‑topping momentum. When they arrive in Bristol this November for a headline show at The Prospect Building, they won’t just be bringing a new tour; they’ll be bringing the next chapter of a journey that’s unfolded loudly, proudly, and entirely in public.

Thirty years after they burst onto the scene with one of the defining anthems of the Britpop era, Republica are back on the road celebrating the anniversary of their landmark debut self-titled album.

The Big Moon’s return to Bristol arrives perfectly timed, landing just weeks after the release of Forever, their most emotionally open and musically luminous record yet. This show is the start of a new chapter for one of the UK’s most quietly fearless indie bands.

Australian indie-rock luminary Courtney Barnett returns to Bristol this autumn, bringing her wry humour, razor‑sharp lyricism and unmistakable guitar tone to the Beacon on Monday 19 October. It’s a one‑night stop on her European and UK tour, and a chance to see an artist who has spent more than a decade redefining what modern guitar music can sound like.

The return of Brandon Flowers to UK stages this autumn feels less like a tour announcement and more like a moment. After more than twenty years fronting one of the most influential rock bands of the 21st century, Flowers steps back into the solo spotlight with Thrasher, his first solo record in over a decade, arriving 21 August via Island Records. It’s a release shaped by memory, place and personal reckoning, drawing once again on the stark beauty and emotional weight of his upbringing in Nephi, Utah.

Man/Woman/Chainsaw are not here to gently introduce themselves. They arrive in Bristol on Monday 10 August with the force of a band who’ve spent their formative years sharpening their sound into something jagged, melodic and impossible to ignore. Their debut album Cannonball, released 7 August 2026 via Fiction Records, is the moment everything snaps into focus: a six‑piece London outfit blending art‑punk abrasion, post‑punk tension, indie‑rock urgency and experimental pop flourishes into a singular, multi‑voiced barrage.

Yard Act’s return to Bristol this July feels less like an in‑store and more like a checkpoint in the evolution of one of Britain’s most consistently surprising guitar bands.

The setting is the beautiful Westonbirt arboretum, Gloucestershire. With the Sun setting and the temperature cooling to a balmy 16 degrees after the high heat we have had it felt good, the several thousand crowd were donning coats and moving towards the stage. With the slight smell of ‘herb’ in the air you felt the expectation that Richard Ashcroft was about to come on stage.

There’s something about Download Festival that makes interviews hit differently. Maybe it’s the roar of the main stage that you just cannot escape, no matter where you stand! Maybe it’s the mud‑splattered adrenaline that everyone, artists, fans, crew, seems to run on. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that Donington has a way of stripping away the noise and leaving you with the raw truth of who a band really is.

Lewis Capaldi has a way of stopping the world mid‑scroll, mid‑conversation, mid‑breath, you just HAVE to look up and check what is happening. Over the past few years he’s delivered a run of spellbinding, heart‑thumping songs that have turned everyday moments into emotional epics, they are the kind of tracks that feel like they were written for YOU, even when millions are singing them at the same time. There’s a vulnerability to his voice, a lived‑in honesty to his writing, and a self‑deprecating charm that somehow makes the heartbreak hit even harder. It’s this rare combination that’s pushed him from rising star to cultural phenomenon, a storyteller whose appeal stretches far beyond genre or generation.

After a week of record-breaking temperatures, there was something peaceful about arriving at the Eden Project on a Friday evening, the biomes glowing in the late sunshine as hundreds of fans streamed down to the arena to witness one of alternative rock’s most influential bands play in Cornwall. The heatwave showed no signs of easing, as the doors opened and some ran for their spot at the barrier, with others relaxing on the grass hills towards the back with their double pints of cider. 

A Tuesday afternoon in June saw my family and I pile into the car, headed for the winding country lanes of Cornwall that led us to the unmistakable greenhouse domes of The Eden Project. It’s one of the UK’s most unique concert venues, nestled amongst lush tropical gardens and Mediterranean landscapes. Even before a single note was played, this gig felt like a special one.

When I heard that Alanis Morissette was performing at Powderham Castle this summer, I was excited – very excited. And I’ll admit it: a small, delusional part of me was quietly hoping she’d walk out and play her debut album front‑to‑back. I know it absolutely wasn’t going to happen, but the fantasy is half the fun.

When Colour TV frontman Sam Durneen isn’t sweating through one‑day festival marathons or accidentally manifesting Shed Seven frontmen into existence, he’s obsessively dissecting the artists who shaped him. For the debut edition of Five That Formed Me, Sam sat down to talk through the five acts that moulded his songwriting, his worldview, and even the artwork on Colour TV’s debut EP.

What follows is a portrait of a musician shaped by melody, melancholy, brevity, emotional honesty, and a fascination with the tension between beauty and darkness.