Amid all the challenges thrown at music media, Clash enters its 20th year with its head held high.
This year we return to the U.S.A for a musical pilgrimage, landing in New Orleans on March 5th we will spend five days in NOLA before hitting the road to Austin, Texas for SXSW Festival 2024 with Royal Enfield. Taking in the full music week programming schedule from March 11th through till March 17th.
The past 12 months have seen the team share intimate stories with Jared Leto, Grammy winner Victoria Monet, enigmatic London iconoclast King Krule, and digital creator Bella Poarch, amongst others. Yet we’re not afraid to look beyond this. Our website, video feeds, and social media channels offer a minute-by-minute hub for cultural analysis, a pan-genre feast of vivid creativity.
Remaining tethered to our foundations in London, we see music in its global capacity, with contributors dialling in from Lagos and Lisbon, New York and New Orleans, Montreal and Manchester. No matter the form, no matter the genre, the long-time commitment to honest, insightful storytelling remains the core strand of our DNA.
This year Clash is hosting not one, but two official showcases bringing a riot of new music to Austin. The first night Clash Live @ Lefty’s Brick Bar on Thursday March 15th starring five acts is followed by a takeover the next day at The British Music Embassy on Friday 16th March.
ACT ONE: THURSDAY 15TH MARCH AT LEFTY’S BRICK BAR, AUSTIN, TEXAS
GNARCISSISTS
Gnarcissists (Matthew Orr, Matt Tillwick, Nazar Khamis, Jerome Peel, Eric Carney) are back with a new gnarly EP. The notoriously raucous 5-piece have built up a reputation for hard, fast, shredding. Cutting their teeth in the gutters of NYC giving the middle finger to 9 – 5 jobs, their debut EP was an ode to nihilistic rebellious living, creativity and nonconformity. The new recordings hit like a juggernaut, so we can expect the unexpected from their Clash Live show at SXSW.
Nigh on impossible to pigeonhole and always a beat ahead. Drummer Jerome Peel is also the founder of New York collective Citibikeboyz and Peels Clothing NYC, whose customers include 2 Chainz, Ishod Wair and made a guest appearance on Zendaya in hit Netflix series Euphoria. Jerome went viral last year for recreating skater Tyshawn’s 145th Subway jump on one of those heavy blue public hire rental bikes. With the rampant Indie Sleaze scene breaking back out, now is their time.
Tune into an old cut now…
ALICE IVY
ARIA-nominated Australian artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Alice Ivy joins us for SXSW. The hotly tipped Melbourne-based artist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist recently dropped her music video for the single “Broke My Heart” featuring Jelani Blackman and Mallrat. Deftly merging elements of soul, electronica and indie, it’s an alt-pop anthem. The video and track was recorded in the US, Australia and London with a self documented feel it blends the footage from each shoot and retains the charms of each shoot.
Alice signed a global deal with Helix Records and announced her third studio album ‘Do What Makes You Happy’ unveiling the album’s debut single ‘Howlin’ At The New Moon’ featuring Grammy-nominated soul singer Mayer Hawthorne late last year. A masterful live performer, Alice Ivy has even played alongside a young Billie Eilish on her Australian dates who we coincidentally also discovered at SXSW. Alice Ivy’s new album featuring Läpsley, Kah-Lo, BJ The Chicago Kid, chlothegod, Sam Austins, Sam Sparro, Josh Teskey & more is due this year via Helix Records.
Tune in now…
THUNDER JACKSON
Thunder Jackson will be landing on our stage armed with a new anthem to the resilience of the human spirit, “Steady Freddy” slated for release on March 8th 2024. Produced by Taylor Johnson and Pete Lawrie Winfield (Until the Ribbon Breaks) and mixed by Grammy and ARIA award winner Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, St. Vincent, Dope Lemon). The uptempo arrangement showcases Jackson at his most charismatic and confident while leaning heavily on organic sounds – something he believes is a “necessary antidote to the plastic world we’re currently living in.” The single will be accompanied by a knockout video directed by Jarod Evans (Flaming Lips, Mythic).
Tune into a recent live session now…
SLOW FICTION
American risers Slow Fiction have shared new single ‘Apollo’. Out now, the single marks a fresh chapter for the group, and it’s their first release via new home on essential tastemaker imprint So Young Records. There’s a halo of hype surrounding Slow Fiction, following some stellar live spots – including a show alongside English Teacher in New York – and last year’s promising eponymous EP. ‘Apollo’ continues their rise. Crunching indie rock with a thirst for melody, it’s reminiscent of cult NYC outfit Jonathan Fire*Eater, or even those early Wolf Alice singles.
Set to have a busy year, ‘Apollo’ finds Slow Fiction playing to their strengths – a superb piece of ultra-catchy indie songwriting, the lyrics cross-reference ancient myths and modern day relationship struggles. “Apollo is the god of sunlight and poetry,” note the band. The title itself comes from “perhaps realising that a person is not a god–without them you can still exist, create, and have a voice”. Singer Julia Vassallo balances on a knife-edge, her attitude-laden vocal lending huge intensity to the lyrics: “I always thought that I knew how to sing/but you wrote the notes so I don’t know anything.”
Tune in now…
PAULI THE PSM
Pauli Lovejoy is more than the average musician. A polymath who sees rhythms and vibrations everywhere as they move through the world, Pauli’s insatiable appetite for creative expression and new perspectives manifests throughout every aspect of his work. Releasing his own music under the moniker Pauli The PSM, he’s preparing to go on a US tour this autumn, as well as working with some of the biggest names in music including Jamie XX, FKA Twigs, Harry Styles, and Bobby Womack as a musical director, producer, DJ, percussionist and drummer.
The drummer has the best seat in the house, or so they say. Pauli The PSM would know as the long-time drummer for Sampha, watching his rise first hand. Also performing with the Gorillaz Sound System and Africa Express, his experiences simply furthered his own ambition. A striking songwriter in his own right, Pauli The PSM matches hard-hitting hip-hop leaning influences to a colour-saturated pop touch.
Tune in now…
ACT TWO: FRIDAY 16TH MARCH AT THE BRITISH MUSIC EMBASSY, AUSTIN, TEXAS
CHARTREUSE
A group blessed with a rich abundance of talents, the band represent a feast of music. Melding together indie rock tropes a la The National with gilded folk aspects, Chartreuse have already released a string of wonderful songs. Debut album ‘Morning Ritual’ landed on November 10th via Communion Music, a project that has pushed Chartreuse to the outermost reaches.
“There’s a strange optimism in pulling all of your negative traits out, revising and reviewing them, and then putting them back, in order,” says Mike Wagstaff. Two new songs accompanied the announce: ‘All Seeing All The Time’ hypnotic in its melodic allure, while title track ‘Morning Ritual’ has the punch and heft of ‘Boxer’-era the National.
Tune in now…
ELENI DRAKE
West London based Eleni Drake has an intimate bond with music. Born in Greece but raised in the capital, she’s used songwriting as a means to build and explore her identity, supple and soulful while also displaying a jazz influence. Dipping into perfect memories to create deeply evocative slices of songwriting. Opaque R&B elements intermingle with touches of jazz, with Eleni frequently utilising warming, analogue tones.
Discussing the construction of her songs, she comments “When I was writing ‘Strawberry Moon’, I wanted the listener to feel the warmth the song evokes within me. I chose warm analog, vintage sounds to compliment the story I was telling, and I created synths lathered in reverb and phasers so the listener felt a sway, almost wave-like, making them want to dance along with it.” Unafraid to tackle The Big Topics, ‘Strawberry Moon’ was the perfect trailer to Eleni’s album ‘Surf The Sun’, which landed in May last year.
Tune in now…
HIGHSCHOOL
Melbourne-raised and London-based group HighSchool return with ‘August 19’. The band – which hinges on Rory Trobbiani and Luke Scott – make raw, spectral dream pop that allows the sound’s post-punk origins to shine through. Freshly signed to [PIAS], HighSchool open a fresh chapter with an all-new single. Out now, ‘August 19’ teases their incoming EP, an evocative piece of guitar pop that feels effortless.
Coming together in the studio with alacrity, the song was left largely unaltered, the sound of a band in full flow. On the new track, lead singer Rory Trobbiani says… “August 19 was the last track we wrote for the EP and will be the first to be released. It came together so quickly and naturally, we felt it was best not to mess with it and over work it. The title was the date we wrote it. It was saved as a voice memo on my phone and the title never changed.” Rory Trobbiani directs the video, a clip that plays with stylistic reference points while grappling with a kind of louche nighttime glamour.
Tune in now…
JAMES SMITH
James Smith has been riding the success of his new single ‘Common People’ whilst out on the road touring, wowing audiences in the US. The new track follows his recent release ‘Introverted’, which kicked off the next phase in his career. Born and raised in East London, Smith picked up the guitar at age nine and started performing just five years later, often smuggling himself into venues, as he was underage. Citing artists like Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Paolo Nutini, Mark Ronson, and Michael Kiwanuka as influences. James has amassed over 200 million streams with his breakout hits “T-Shirts” and “Tell Me That You Love Me,” resulting in a record deal with Virgin EMI. A string of successful singles followed, including “Hailey,” “Blackbird,” “I Don’t Wanna Know,” and “My Oh My,” the latter two of which appeared on the 2021 EP District Line.
Working with alacrity James has returned on triumphant form with ‘Common People’ which is an ode to the everyday, while speaking up for the underdog. Quietly political – with a small ‘p’ – it finds him pinning down the poetry of the working classes, while also seeking out his own, highly personal take on the subject. Penned during lockdown, it’s the sound of someone looking out at the world, perpetually wondering ‘why’. Out now, it’s had a big impact on fans, who have flocked to its cause.
Tune in now…
LAUREN RUTH WARD
Baltimore-born, LA-based, London afficianado artist Lauren Ruth Ward. From the age of 13, Ward found solace in performance art, in the sacred exchange between artist and audience: “The beautiful part of making music is the way people connect with the songs. I don’t always know where we’re going when a show begins, but it is always cathartic and beautiful.”
Enthused by the anarchic influence of Led Zeppelin, Elliot Smith and Fleetwood Mac, Ward has developed a sound that fuses elements of folk, alt-rock and pop to push her self-expression further as a queer musician. In 2016, Ward released her self-titled debut EP merging wry candour with elegies about love and displacement; her warm, honeyed tones the foundation for insular folk tales. Followed by the release of EP ‘Mindseye’ that revealed a moodier, cerebral and downtempo dimension to her artistry. 2024 should see the release of her debut album.
Tune in now…
Until The Ribbon Breaks
An inspiring, essential and powerful force, Until The Ribbon Breaks are a band who seek deeper, transformative passion, and revive all who listen with the ability to internalise their music with depth and redemption. Psychoanalyst D. W Winnicott believed that artists possess souls driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide and this notion soon strikes on the first listen of opening track ‘The Other Ones’.
Lilting in tenderness and sincerity, it is softly revealed “One day I’ll tell my secrets to you, I just cannot tell them yet”. There is a balminess, a caressing motion jabbing at our senses to their sound. We look forward to welcoming them to our stage.
Tune in now…
