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Gigwise - featuring the latest music news, live gig reviews, interviews, music videos and concert and gig tickets

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Featured Writers

Marcus Wratten

Hello! My name is Marcus Wratten. I am a London-based freelance journalist with a particular interest in feature writing. I have bylines in Reach publications including MyLondon, The Mirror, SomersetLive …

Natasha Rainey

NCTJ-qualified journalist with over five years of experience capturing contemporary culture through compelling profiles, interviews, and reviews. My work in publications like Bricks Magazine and RANGE Magazine showcases my inquisitive …

Maisy Farren

Media and communications graduate of Goldsmiths, University of London (2018). Bylines Include NMERefinery29Metro.co.ukDAZEDGigwisei-DBackstage Tales Creative Editor for The Femme Collective

Aimee Phillips

Charlotte Grimwade

London-based arts and culture journalist

Sammy Andrews

York, UK based Assistant Album Review Editor at Distorted Sound Magazine Specialising in hardcore, emo, and indie reviews and features. Featured in Distorted Sound, Redbrick, Gigwise and The Unwritten.

Latest Articles

Album Review: Birdy - Portraits | Gigwise

If you think you know what you’re getting from a Birdy album, think again. Expecting intimate piano ballads, I was swept into the synth filled opening track ‘Paradise Calling.’ A burst of energy, and an upbeat assertion of ‘all I ever wanted was something to believe in’, Birdy throws you …

By Sammy Andrews
15th August 2023 • Gigwise

Album Review: Dizzy - Dizzy | Gigwise

Wholesome at times, brutal at others Sometimes you need something undoubtedly raw and vulnerable, something with a tenderness that makes you feel a little more human again. A palpable reminder of what it’s like to feel a lump slowly boil up in your throat. Dizzy are pretty good at that, …

By Jack McGill
14th August 2023 • Gigwise

The BIMM Staff Crisis: How The University Are Turning Their Backs On Staff | Gigwise

In July 2022 BIMM Institute was granted its official university status, being one of the most popular music universities due to its accessibility, previously the colleges awarded their degrees under the University of Sussex’s name but now when receiving a qualification it will be rewarded by BIMM University — doesn’t …

By Jack McGill
29th June 2023 • Gigwise

Glastonbury 2023: A Stage-By-Stage Guided Tour | Gigwise

What goes on where? With Glastonbury 2023 around the corner, we’re here to equip you with a guide to the festival’s main stages Glastonbury is one of the biggest festivals in the world and, probably because of that, getting tickets is what can only be described as utter carnage. However, …

By Adam Wright
30th May 2023 • Gigwise

#MeToo Didn't Work - Music Needs To Do More

Music’s worst kept secret is making headlines, again. In the hallowed annals of press recovery, we find words “allegedly”, “claims”, even “real victim” sewn into a fodder stew satiating and silencing that one conversation we all love to side-step when it comes to people we like. Surprise, surprise, it’s sexual …

By Natasha Rainey
22nd May 2023 • Gigwise

EP Review: GIRLI - Why am I like this?? | Gigwise

Girli is reckoning with the messiness of life on Why am I like this?? Refusing the tie herself down, the alt-pop singer sets out to capture the multitudes of herself. The EP is easily at its best when Girli tackles her own insecurities head on. Brutally forthcoming, witty, and sharp, …

By Sammy Andrews
10th May 2023 • Gigwise

Gigwise IN DEPTH: April'23

Featuring: - My single review of 'Opaque' by Chappaqua Wrestling

By Gemma Cockrell
28th April 2023 • Gigwise

Album Review: Billie Marten - Drop Cherries | Gigwise

Four albums into her career, Billie Marten is not reinventing herself. On Drop Cherries, Marten is instead, turning further inwards. Examining, musing, and ruminating on love, Marten makes introspection her own. Opening track ‘New Idea’ feels like a wistful entrance into the imaginative space of the album. Simple hums and …

By Sammy Andrews
6th April 2023 • Gigwise

Take a walk on the wild side: Lou Reed's Legacy | Gigwise

Celebrating the life and work of a rock icon on his birthday On what would have been his 81st birthday, Lou Reed remains one of the defining figures in alternative music. Both as a member of the Velvet Underground and a solo artist, his music challenged and changed conventional ideas …

By Adam Wright
2nd March 2023 • Gigwise

Album Review: Shame - Food For Worms | Gigwise

Shame’s third album, Food For Worms, puts the London five-piece back at the forefront of the alternative scene with a fresh and forward-thinking sound. They’re a band who were there in 2018, when punk revivalism was taking its first strides to become the dominating sound in the UK’s underground. Their …

By Adam Wright
22nd February 2023 • Gigwise

7 Of The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2023 | Gigwise

Something to get you excited... 2023 is already looking like a great year for music, with several big acts set to be making their comebacks by dropping new albums after years without a new release. After an uncertain few years following the pandemic, we can expect there’ll be tonnes of …

By Lauren Cox
9th January 2023 • Gigwise

Gigwise: Issue 6 - The Annual

Looking back at 2022's biggest moments in music: Fred again's status-cementing Boiler Room set.

By Aimee Phillips
30th November 2022 • Gigwise

COVER: Los Bitchos - Gigwise issue 6

The band talk Christmas singles, passing the 100 gigs mark, meeting the president of Luxembourg and water park mishaps on tour.

By Aimee Phillips
30th November 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Loyle Carner - hugo | Gigwise

It’s difficult to comprehend Loyle Carner’s journey since the release of his debut album, Yesterday’s Gone, back in 2017. Five years later and the British rap icon has released his third album, hugo. The ten-track album marks a clear turning point in Carner’s work – it’s noticeably different in tone …

By Charlotte Grimwade
19th October 2022 • Gigwise

EP Review: dodie - Hot Mess | Gigwise

A new era of experimentation and excellence It’s been a hectic couple of years for singer-songwriter dodie. After releasing her debut album, Build A Problem, in May 2021, she’s balanced going on a highly anticipated tour, posting monthly videos to YouTube, and writing new music. The latter has resulted in …

By Charlotte Grimwade
29th September 2022 • Gigwise

Sad Girl Autumn: An Audio History | Gigwise

As the days gradually get shorter, there’s a new indie aesthetic to fixate on. That’s right, sad girl autumn is upon us.

By Charlotte Grimwade
26th September 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Laufey - Everything I Know About Love | Gigwise

Since she released her debut single ‘Street by Steet’ back in 2020, Laufey has been fine-tuning her redefinition of jazz for a Gen-Z audience. Influenced by the likes of Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald, Laufey’s deep alto voice, rich harmonies and heartfelt lyrics make her debut album, Everything I Know …

By Charlotte Grimwade
23rd August 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Beach Bunny - Emotional Creature | Gigwise

At various stages of anxiety, confidence + love Beach Bunny’s sophomore album Emotional Creature sees the group finding their feet both musically and individually. The album is an exploration of the need to grow, adapt and change, finding beauty in the vast kaleidoscope of human emotions. Arriving with a brash …

By Sammy Andrews
20th July 2022 • Gigwise

Live Review: Carly Rae Jepsen at Somerset House, London, 11/07/22 | Gigwise

From the moment the saxophone riff of 'Run Away With Me' rang out, endorphins were no longer optional.

By Marcus Wratten
12th July 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Violet Skies - If I Saw You Again | Gigwise

Taking you on an emotional journey If I Saw You Again is a vulnerable and honest debut album from Violet Skies that sees the singer-songwriter finding her own voice. The stripped-back and intimate record is a collection of melodic piano and guitar tracks with each song feeling like an invitation …

By Sammy Andrews
15th June 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Body Type - Everything Is Dangerous but Nothing’s Surprising | Gigwise

Sydney’s Body Type have made their mark and planted the seeds of success for a promising future with their debut album Everything Is Dangerous but Nothing’s Surprising. From rageful and cathartic 'The Brood', to the wading bedroom reality of 'Couple Song', Body Type have produced an album full of bites …

By Jack McGill
20th May 2022 • Gigwise

Why Is Hollywood So Obsessed With Music Biopics? | Gigwise

From the Sex Pistols to Bob Dylan, no artist is safe from the movie treatment these days 2022 seems to be the year for biopics. This year’s Oscar nominations reflect this, with King Richard (about Serena and Venus Williams' father), Tick, Tick…Boom! (focusing on Rent penman Jonathan Larson) and The …

By Charlotte Grimwade
20th April 2022 • Gigwise

'Dogrel' - 3 Years On | Gigwise

Reflecting on Fontaines D.C's debut ahead of their 3rd album next week One of the most anticipated albums of the year is quickly approaching as Fontaines D.C. — praised as the best band in the world — release their third studio album 'Skinty Fia' next week. With each release their …

By Jack McGill
12th April 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: BANKS - SERPENTINA | Gigwise

Dynamic + adventurous

By Marcus Wratten
5th April 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Walt Disco - Unlearning | Gigwise

Walt Disco’s debut album is a melodramatic and self-explorative step out onto the stage. A stage show in two acts, Unlearning, pulls together entrancing production and sprawling soundscapes to interrogate love, flings, heartbreak and identity. As much of a product of our times as it is of musical legacy, Unlearning …

By Sammy Andrews
29th March 2022 • Gigwise

Ep Review: Folly Group - Human and Kind | Gigwise

Emerging from the battle-royale of London’s unforgiving circuit alive, Folly Group have been praised as one of the next best things to dare show what they have to offer in the capital. Now they’re running it back again: their second EP Human and Kind is much more immersive an experience …

By Jack McGill
25th March 2022 • Gigwise

Live Review: Don Broco at Royal Albert Hall, London, 21/03/2022 | Gigwise

Don Broco opened up this year's Teenage Cancer Trust event with a full orchestra Don Broco, orchestrated, at the Royal Albert Hall was a special one. In aid of Teenage Cancer Trust they played a set truly worthy of such an important cause. With this being the first TCT show …

By Jack McGill
22nd March 2022 • Gigwise

Album Review: Babeheaven - Sink Into Me | Gigwise

Babeheaven’s latest album sees the band leaning into a much more eclectic range of influences and sounds, melding elements of R'n'B and electro-pop into their dreamy indie sound. Atmospheric and ethereal, Sink Into Me is a melodic delve into disillusionment, loss and yearning for human connection. Babeheaven enter Sink Into …

By Sammy Andrews
16th March 2022 • Gigwise

A crash course in the Irish music scene right now

Ireland is pure class. While history books, stereotypes and the general lack of road signs may contest this greatness, Ireland’s cultural landscape shows nothing but prosperity. Beyond the rich literary circles spouted, musicians continue to make their mark on our wee island and beyond.

By Natasha Rainey
17th March 2021 • Gigwise

The Thrill Of Doing It Right: GUM on gearing up for LP5 | Gigwise

A lot has happened since Jay Watson, a.k.a GUM, put the finishing touches on his fifth and latest solo album. Recorded a year ago, he has since become a father and seen the music industry almost entirely shutdown amid the coronavirus crisis. Now Out In The World, the 10-track album …

By James Ayles
11th June 2020 • Gigwise