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Diary Dates
Soundhouse Summer Sessions – Every Saturday through the summer
The Soundhouse
The Summer Sessions are BACK. Enjoy live music outdoors on the city centre’s best outdoor stage. From 1-6pm every Saturday through the summer. Enjoy a mixed bill of local acts with some drinks in the sunshine. Free entry and all ages welcome..
Sunbirds – Friday 29 July
The Musician
The Beautiful South’s Dave Hemingway is back and sounding better than ever. Together with erstwhile South colleague, guitarist/songwriter Phil Barton, new discovery singer/violinist Laura Wilcockson and top UK session drummer Marc Parnell, Dave has created Sunbirds. Although born and bred in England the band’s sound predominantly features the instrumentation of traditional American roots music combined with the occasional outburst of guitar heavy melody more associated with Seattle in the late 80s / early 90s.
Easy Life – Friday 29 July
The Y Theatre
Due to popular demand, Rough Trade Nottingham is very excited to present a second live performance and signing with Easy Life at The Y Theatre. This unique event celebrates the release of ‘Maybe In Another Life’ released on 12th August via Island. Tickets include live performance and access to the signing. BUY TICKETS.
Declan Welsh & The Decadent West – Friday 5 August
The Soundhouse
Music Venue Trust has teamed up with The National Lottery to help to #ReviveLive music in Grassroots Music Venues across the UK this summer with a fantastic line up of tours, one off events and special performances. And it’s all about bringing friends and communities back together. Don’t miss this brilliant Glasgow based indie rock band as they return to Leicester.
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INTERVIEW: Sorrell
We first caught up with Sorrell when they released their first tracks back in 2020. Now, a few lockdowns and songwriting time later, they’re back with new single, Warm. We chatted to them to find out more about what they’ve been up to and what’s next for the band.
How would you describe Sorrell for anyone who isn’t familiar?
To put it simply, I think that Sorrell is a band that likes to mix things up and keep our audience guessing. We like to make music off the normal beaten path, whilst keeping the melodies and emotion in our tunes. One song could be catchy indie-rock, and next could be distorted guitars with massive walls of noise. So really there’s something for anyone that’s a fan of guitar music!
Which 3 acts would be on your For Fans Of list?
It’s always evolving, but I would recommend our new single Warm for any fans of 90’s dream-pop bands such as Slowdive, of whom I’m a huge fan. Another influence would be American indie bands like Deerhunter. Also, I think anyone who’s loves the experimentation and unpredictability of Radiohead would find something to enjoy with us.
What have you been up to since we last chatted in 2020?
We released our first singles in 2020… so there wasn’t much we could do but wait. We put time to good use writing some of the new songs which are now in our set. We were thankfully able to start practising in the summer of 2021. We started bringing those songs to life and in February we managed to get back into the studio. Since then we’ve been back to normal, gigging all over the city, and it’s been amazing!
Tell us about your new single, Warm?
Warm is one of those lockdown-written songs. I wanted to encapsulate the feeling of life passing you by. That feeling of just really wanting a sense of adventure and discovery, even if it feels so far away at the time. I think that comes across in the lyrics. We took influence from a lot of dream-pop bands for the vibe of the track,with modulated and dreamy sounds on the guitars taking centre-stage over distant vocals. It’s a fun song to play because of how powerful the guitars sound, especially at the end of the track building up to a dramatic finish. It’s become the perfect song to end our set on.
What else do you have lined up during 2022?
There’s a lot planned for us at the moment, we have more singles, and an EP coming out later in the year. We also have a music video in the works, and some big shows planned that we are really excited to share in the coming weeks.
Our next gig is on Wednesday 27th July at Duffy’s, where we’ll be supporting London band Gold Baby.
What is your favourite thing about Leicester’s music scene?
I would say just the variety and the creativity out there, there are so many bands active currently that are bringing their own unique ideas and our audiences have been really welcoming and supportive too. We’ve played gigs alongside bands playing Soul/Jazz, Mathy Emo and Punk, as well as Synth-Pop and it’s been awesome to watch.
What is the best live show you’ve been to since venue restrictions were lifted?
Protomartyr at The Y Theatre. I’ve been a huge fan of them for a few years now and it was brilliant to see them live, and to see American touring bands coming through Leicester. They have a great biting, post-punk sound that is just so enthralling to experience. They aren’t much like Sorrell, but their songwriting is really creative and inspiring to me.
If someone was listening to Sorrell for the first time, which song should they listen to first?
I think Lampshade is a good place to start, it’s a chill track and a nice way to understand what our sound is about. But all 3 songs are very different, so I would just give them all a listen!
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WEEKLY PLAYLIST
In this week’s playlist we’re listening to a selection of acts from across Leicestershire.
Have a listen and get in touch to tell us which tracks you’re loving.
