When: 7.30pm on Wednesday 12 November 2025
Where: Night & Day Cafe, 26 Oldham St, Manchester, M1 1JN

We’re delighted to welcome Admiral Fallow back – this time, to Night & Day Cafe!

Admiral Fallow are thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of their new album First Of The Birds – out 31 October on Chemikal Underground.

The early sketches of First Of The Birds – their fifth full-length record, a rich and brooding affair – appeared in quiet mornings and spaces, before the songs burst into life with long-time collaborator and producer Paul Savage in Chem19 Studios. Approaching their twentieth year as a band, and having recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of their much-loved debut album, Admiral Fallow have never made a record in the way they have here, and the resulting work finds a way of both defining and redefining the scope of the group in 2025 and beyond.

On previous records, the band worked and re-worked demos in rehearsals before entering the studio, but here (by both design and circumstance), they had spent less time in one room together as a five-piece and retained an open-ended sense of where the songs would lead and the space they might take up. The rehearsals that did happen prior to recording took place in Louis Abbott’s attic room, where they practised hushed and unplugged. While a number of the songs would eventually find noisier paths of their own, the heart of the album remains in the understated spaces where it began – giving the songs an earthy and organic sense of wonder which feels wholly compelling.

“It comes from us having more confidence to just play together as a group,” Sarah Hayes says of the process behind the new album. “There’s a shorthand to how we work together, and how we experiment now, that has come from being together for so long. I don’t think we could have worked in this way at any other point in the past eighteen years.”

First single Avalanche is indicative of that journey, written by Louis following the birth of his daughter in 2022. “It tells the story of the day she joined us in the world,” he says of the new single. “I wrote the words very early one morning in Spring as she lay sleeping next to me on the couch.”

An elegant sonic undertaking, the track is defined by the rise and fall in temperature that swings back-and-forth throughout. Opening in gentle light, Abbott’s plaintive voice sings quiet details of his life as a new father, before the full band enters in a sudden, bold cascade.

That push-and-pull – of fiery passion and tender restraint – has been a key aspect of the band’s sound across their past work but is perhaps more fully-realised here. Second single, The Shortest Night, similarly and suitably follows this path, the personal nature of the words meeting the boisterousness of the instrumentation in a way that feels tight and intuitive. A direct and punchy four minutes, it was steered by a love for The Flaming Lips and Springsteen, and bursts and beats with a warm, sentimental heart.

It also leans into two key aspects of the album’s lyrical journey. Written in part during the strange, secluded days of 2020, First Of The Birds touches upon themes of new life in a reshaped world and also familial links to what was held before. “I’ve been taking some time trying to find out which bird that is singing there,” Louis sings on The Shortest Night, recalling his early morning walks through the park in a half-closed, forever-changed world. “I’m not sure we’ll ever recover from this,” he adds, plainly and to the point.

The time between 2021’s The Idea Of You LP and First Of The Birds has seen the arrival of Louis’ two children as well as a move away from where he’d been living. “Not all the songs are directly about those two things specifically, but they all speak to them in various ways,” Louis says. Touching upon themes of family and (dis)connection, the songs here are both lucid and opaque, often at the same time. The lyrics can feel direct, but held up to the light suddenly appear fragmented. Louis continues: “A lot of them came from whispered voice notes while out in parks, and were then shaped into new ideas. Others are asking questions in a fictional way, trying to fix long-standing, less-solid relationships in my life.”

No matter where the seeds of these songs lie, Admiral Fallow approach them with a real sense of fervour, leading to an expressive and resonant collection, both lyrically and in the breadth of its musical scope. Opening track First Names (Storms) melds gentle acoustic playing with unexpected flashes and flares of skewed production, a counterpoint to its book-end, All The Distractions, which rolls out like the soft sigh it sings of; a lullaby in all but name. Elsewhere, Headstrong is equally as forthright and bombastic as The Shortest Night, a short and sharp three minutes of spiky, colourful instrumentation and giddy vocals, while Daydreaming (Why Any Of This?) highlights the band’s collective prowess. A seven-minute epic, the song rips and rises before giving way to an arresting coda of subtle guitar lines, playful percussion and gorgeous two-part vocal harmonies; as captivating as the band have ever sounded.

Led by collective spirit and understanding, framing a time of significant change and upheaval, of the myriad ways those things shift the world around us, First Of The Birds feels something like a revelation. Admiral Fallow continue to evolve and transform, and in embracing such things, of folding their experiences into the fabric of the band, they’ve produced a record that is at once entirely personal while also feeling reassuringly universal. It thrives within those parameters; a burst of warm light on a new morning.

First Of The Birds finds Admiral Fallow’s line-up unchanged from their debut album: Louis Abbott (vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, percussion), Kevin Brolly (keyboards, clarinet), Phil Hague (drums, percussion), Sarah Hayes (vocals, keyboards, flute) and Joe Rattray (bass, programming).

Local support comes from Blue John. Blue John take their name from the rare mineral mined near their hometown. With a shared love for the dreamlike melancholy of Ben Howard, Mogwai and Jeff Buckley, they create earthy, folk- inspired indie suspended in hazy textures and mellow vocals. Sheffield-born twin brothers Jamie and Dom have been making music together since they were young and in 2021, they tied a name to it.

With recurring attention from BBC Introducing, alongside shows up North including a run of sold- out headline shows in their hometown, Blue John keep a firm foot on writing new music and are steadily carving out their sound.

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When: 7pm on Friday 14 November 2025
Where: Band on the Wall, 26 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ

PLEASE NOTE: We have early show times – doors 7pm, Tenderness is on at 7.30pm and Willy Mason at 8.30pm (curfew 10pm).

We’re excited to be welcoming Willy Mason back – this time, to Band on the Wall.

Willy Mason is returning on tour to Europe in 2025. Since 2020 Willy has been touring with increasing regularity, steadily honing his live sound and playing.

His band includes Charlotte Anne Dole on drums (Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hammydown, Cult Objects, Empty Country) and Farley Glavin on bass (The Lemonheads, Killer Motorcycle). The trio have a tight and dynamic sound that allow them to easily move between all phases of Willy’s catalogue faithfully, with high energy and care. Willy has been steadily adding new songs to his shows. He is currently in the studio working on new recordings for an album.

Willy’s dark yet uplifting songs have endured and evolved for two decades. He is in yet another new phase, emboldened and galvanised by experience. This tour and accompanying album will be a culmination of his post pandemic work.

‘I want to provide people with places where they can emote and move freely, in safety,’ says Willy. ‘To feel connected with each other and experience the strength in that. Performance allows me to create and inhabit these places.

‘A lot of my new songs seem to be about love and perseverance. I’ve come to realise that songs can have the ability to conjure things, so I think this is a good thing.’

Tour support comes from Tenderness. Tenderness is the first solo music from Katy Beth Young (Peggy Sue, Deep Throat Choir). Her strange love songs take inspiration from country heroine Patsy Cline, the intricate noise of Yo La Tengo and Big Thief, and the opaque romance of digital technology.

The debut EP Heat Wave Love Song – made in the sun-drenched aftermath of a doomed romance – captures the beauty and cutting clarity of heartbreak. These are sad songs with flickers of desire and a little bit of side-eye. Across the three tracks, Young draws together all of her influences and past selves. Heat Wave Love Song was produced by Euan Hinshelwood (Younghusband, Cate Le Bon) at his VacantTV studio in South London, and features friends and collaborators including drummer Marian Li-Pino (La Luz), pedal steel player Harry Bohay (Aldous Harding, Sylvie), Clay Slade (Peggy Sue) on electric guitar and Hinshelwood on bass and synths.

This is a 10+ show. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Book tickets now.

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When: 7.30pm on Friday 14 November 2025
Where: New Mills Art Theatre, Jodrell St, New Mills, High Peak SK22 3HJ

PLEASE NOTE: This show has now sold out! But details of The Unthanks’ next Manchester show will be announced shortly.

UPDATE: A small number of holds have been released – book them here!

We’re delighted to welcome The Unthanks back to the Art Theatre in New Mills!

As part of 20th year celebrations, The Unthanks scale back for some intimate shows, supporting today’s best small venues and including memorable ones from their early days. The shows will draw from all parts of their repertoire. How many artists have covered as much musical ground and journeyed so far at The Unthanks over the past two decades? BBC 6 Music regulars, but equally to be found on Radios 2, 3 and 4, the Tyneside band are like magpies, picking up undiscovered jewels, reframing history and drawing on the worlds of folk, jazz, orchestral, electronica and art-rock to create their own unique truth and beauty. They have won Mojo Magazine Folk Album of the Year twice, they were the only British folk representation in The Guardian’s and Uncut’s Best Albums of the Decade (worldwide, all genres), and count amongst their admirers, fellow storytellers including Elvis Costello, Maxine Peake, Michael Sheen, Rosanne Cash, Martin Freeman, Robert Wyatt, Martin Hayes, Nick Hornby, Ben Myers and Dawn French.

Using the traditional music of the North East of England as a starting point, the influence of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Antony & The Johnsons, King Crimson and Tom Waits can be heard in the band’s 16 records to date, earning them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and international acclaim along the way.

The Unthanks are constantly evolving. They have scaled up for orchestral and brass band shows, drawing on the arranging and composing skills of self-taught band leader Adrian McNally, and paired right back for the unaccompanied live record, Diversions Vol 5, drawing on the traditional singing backgrounds of Rachel and Becky Unthank and Niopha Keegan. They’ve created song cycles from Emily Bronte’s poetry, site specific theatre with Maxine Peake, soundtracks for Mackenzie Crook’s Worzel Gummidge, had music used on HBO’s True Detective, Peaky Blinders, Vera, and The Dectectorists, and a string of ‘Diversions’ interpreting the work of Molly Drake, Anohni and Robert Wyatt.

Their 15th record, Sorrows Away, was described as “a masterpiece of nuanced drama” (Uncut Albums of the Year), “a landmark album by an extraordinary band that will resonate for generations to come.” (Record Collector).

‘Few of their contemporaries, within both folk music and the wider artistic spectrum, have such a keenly honed ability to locate in a song the emotional essence that can, in just a single phrase or vocal elision, cut one to the quick’ – The Independent

‘The Unthanks have covered a lot of ground in the past decade and watching them evolve over this period has been truly inspiring’ – Phillip Selway (Radiohead)

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When: 7pm on Friday 14 November 2025
Where: O2 Apollo Manchester, Stockport Road, Manchester M12 6AP

We’re excited to be presenting BC Camplight’s biggest show to date, at the O2 Apollo – with very special guest Badly Drawn Boy plus British Birds!

Every BC Camplight album has a backstory every bit as compelling as its music. A Sober Conversation is no different, as virtuoso songwriter and pianist Brian Christinzio documents the last two years of his life, finally confronting a shocking childhood trauma while embracing sobriety, to create his bravest and most revealing record. It’s an enthralling, sometimes haunting quasi-concept record marked by ruthless tragic-comedic purging and sublime, intricate melody, knitting lyrical screenplays to dazzling arrangements. It is BC Camplight at the height of his remarkable powers.

First evidence is the album’s lead single, Two-Legged Dog, a classic example of Christinzio’s sumptuous songwriting, juxtaposing raw Rundgren-esque piano punching against moments of sophisticated classical grandeur. It features Abigail Morris, lead singer of (BC Camplight cheerleaders) The Last Dinner Party. A descending piano riff kickstarts a sumptuous Bacharach-ian drama, filtered through Christinzio/ Camplight’s trademark changes of tension and pace, as he looks deep and inward. “I’m starting to understand that I can accept love and help from people, but I need to help myself too,” he says.

A Sober Conversation follows Christinzio’s 2023 album, the critically celebrated The Last Rotation Of Earth (his first top-40 album), a record centred around the agonising break-up of his long-term relationship. It received the most ecstatic reviews of his career – “A masterpiece” (Sunday Times), “Masterful” (Uncut), “An extraordinary record” (MOJO) – and his biggest headline shows up to that point at London Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Manchester’s Albert Hall. But even increased recognition for the man’s considerable talent cannot compensate for the man’s long history of depression, and Christinzio admits it’s been a hard-fought battle to reach this point in life.

“Around the time of The Last Rotation… I realised I was living in this perpetual childhood, messed up all the time, trying to free myself from responsibility and all the bad thoughts I had. It led to a kind of existential crisis… I was craving meaning, thinking about having kids… I’ve been running away from stuff for a long time. You can either try and achieve milestones in life or chase a dime bag – you can’t do both. And I’ve decided not to let myself be defeated anymore.”

In part, Christinzio’s new-found clarity led him back to childhood, to summer camp in New Jersey when he was abused by an adult counsellor. Previous BC Camplight records have referred to it obliquely, but it’s now front and centre of A Sober Conversation. “I had spent 30 years being terrified to open that door, and afraid of the price I’d pay once I had. I’ve opened the door. To some extent this album is what was on the other side. I hope it helps me but this album is also for everyone that is having trouble finding their bravery, finding themselves.,” he says.

As album intro ‘The Tent’ evolves from an ominous crescendo of synths and footsteps into a pensive country-tinged piano ballad into a passage of increasing tonal violence and euphoric choral harmonies, Christinzio sets the scene of the crime. Once past a list of possible calming remedies that might solve his struggle, the narrator reaches a crossroads. “Am I going to face it or let this continue to ruin my life?” Christinzio says.

Much of A Sober Conversation’s lyrics involve conversations, often between Christinzio and himself, as he explores his new reality. In the title track, he notes, “I’m pulling myself to all these places I don’t want to go… At this point in the album, I still don’t want to talk about what happened, so I’m cracking jokes instead.” (As a device to throw the listener off the scent, the narrator’s confession, “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t care for David Bowie” is a big one….)

Like a conversation, the album goes back and forth, across style, mood and temperament. Some lyrics, Christinzio says, have a “Something good will come of this feeling.” But not ‘When I Make My First Million’, one of the album’s calmer moments but conversely the tone is harsher: “More bittersweet, with the emphasis on ‘bitter’. I always thought the next phrase of my life will fix everything – that was my mantra for years. But I never allowed myself to get better.”

At the album’s halfway point, ‘Where Are You Taking My Baby’ is the moment Christinzio accepts, “Please, just fucking deal with it. Don’t worry that it took you so long to address it.” Brian tells his abuser, “I’m ready to not hate you anymore, I’m taking the power back. But I gotta ask; Where did you take that kid? Namely, me. Why did you leave him there?”

After this heavy interlude, ‘Bubbles In The Gasoline’ (featuring Peaness leader Jessica Branney) is, says Christinzio, “a much-needed break.” There’s savage humour in his words, but also an upbeat state of mind. “Rather than wake up expecting something awful will happen, I’m waking up, and I don’t know what will happen, but that’s okay. I can’t keep using setbacks as excuses to extend the self-perpetuating myth that I’m prone to disaster.”

After the break: the reality check. Stunning magnum opus ‘Rock Gently To Disorder’, a kind-of-musical in several suites – and what Christinzio hears as, “a raw version of Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours” – underlines how the struggle continues. “I might be owning my life, but it doesn’t mean it’s not going to hurt,” he affirms. “It’s always going to hurt.”

Hurt, alongside its good friends Confusion and Anger, have shaped every BC Camplight record, from his 2005 debut, when he was backed by musicians who would eventually join The War On Drugs. But by 2010, after he released a second album, Christinzio knew he had to leave Philly. “If I’d stayed,” he once mused, “I’d be dead. Period.” So he took a friend’s advice to escape his circumstances and moved to, of all places, Manchester. He found his way to Bella Union, when he began again, releasing the album How To Die In The North. Just days before it was released in 2014, Christinzio was deported back to Philly. He got back to the UK via an Italian passport and made Deportation Blues – but just days before its release in 2016, his father died, triggering the breakdown that inspired Shortly After Takeoff, the last part of what Christinzio calls his Manchester Trilogy.

The Last Rotation Of Earth followed, and Christinzio got through the break-up, started therapy, buried his addictions, and made A Sober Conversation. The album is self-played except drums (shared between Sidonie Hand-Halford and Adam Dawson, who plays in Christinzio’s live band), plus backing singer Jessica Branney. Live band members Jolan Lewis and Thom Bellini make cameos. Christinzio believes that his sobriety, “really comes out in the music. It’s more meaningful because it’s coming from a place of clarity.”

Still, A Sober Conversation’s penultimate track, the exquisitely dreamy ‘Drunk Talk’, attempts to escape clarity by indulging in drunken banter rather than consider the art of self-improvement. The album departs with ‘Camp Four Oaks’, introduced by a tent unzipping, footsteps walking away and the return of the waves of synthesiser, not so ominous this time, leading into a wistful, filmic instrumental, as Christinzio aims to unburden the listener at the end of this intense experience.

So ends another extraordinary BC Camplight album. Christinzio’s live show is considered to be among the very best there is. A powerful and breathtaking affair. This year’s touring begins with solo shows around the album launch and full band shows in November, in upgraded venues yet again, including London’s Roundhouse and Manchester’s Apollo. Has any other artist steadily increased their popularity this way, record by record (this is his seventh)?

“Clearing my head has made me re-evaluate the entire stretch of BC Camplight,” concludes Christinzio. “I mean, what is this thing I’ve been doing? I’m in England, so I rarely see my family – and I’ve never been part of the music scene. I’m just this weird guy in the corner. The way I’m getting more successful is quite unique, I think. I tell myself it’s because I only make music that is important to me. I think people can feel that.”

We’re delighted that Badly Drawn Boy will perform as very special guest.

And opening the show are British Birds. Hatched in 2023 via tape loops and cheap nylon stringed guitars, Chorley-based British Birds soar from the depths of psych-tinged melancholy to the heights of disco-doused dystopia and back. From within the precariously soundproofed walls of their inconspicuous makeshift arthouse they meticulously craft their sound; dedicating themselves to the whole craft from recording, producing and releasing their records, to screenprinting their merch.

Ellie’s grab-you-and-don’t-let-you-go basslines, Mikey’s thumping drums which cut like Keith Moon’s poltergeist and Emma’s earwormy synth and sweet n shriek harmonies bolster frontman Bobby’s cathartic vocals and staunchly stylistic guitar which jangles like Harrison’s inner demon. The four-piece have impressed fans around the country and beyond during tour support slots for The Lovely Eggs, Pale Blue Eyes and The Bug Club and their 3 live sessions for BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley.

This is an all ages show. Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.

Book tickets now.

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Tuesday 18 November 2025
Where: YES Basement, 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB

We’re delighted to be working with Holysseus Fly for the first time – with guest Ellen Beth Abdi!

Hailed as ‘one to watch’ by the Guardian, Holysseus Fly has spent the past couple of years carving out her own unique path. With a series of standout releases accompanied by striking visuals, she’s established herself as one of the UK’s most compelling new voices.

As vocalist, co-writer and pianist in critically acclaimed collective Ishmael Ensemble, Fly is a vital presence in the UK music scene and as a solo artist she pushes further, blending emotion-soaked lyrics with soaring, cinematic choruses. Both her 2023 debut EP Birthpool and last year’s Out Of This World were championed by Lauren Laverne and earned praise from industry heavyweights including Annie Mac, Chris Hawkins, Jamz Supernova, Craig Charles, and Huey Morgan.

In 2024, Fly joined Nick Mulvey on a sold out UK tour before launching her own headline run, with standout shows in London, Manchester and Bristol that drew a rapturous response. That same year, she made her solo debut at Glastonbury and performed on the main stage at Bristol’s Forwards Festival, sharing the bill with the likes of CMAT, Jessie Ware and LCD Soundsystem.

With new music on the way and her biggest solo UK tour set for this autumn, 2025 is shaping up to be a landmark year for Holysseus Fly as she continues to cement her place as one of the UK’s most exciting and distinctive emerging artists.

Special guest is Ellen Beth Abdi. Mancunian music-maker Ellen Beth Abdi crafts wonky, soul-infused pop with live loops, pokey drums and quietly subversive lyrics. A rising force in Manchester’s scene, she’s supported The Stone Roses, performed with New Order and A Certain Ratio, and shared stages with Olivia Dean, Hollie Cook and Angélique Kidjo. Her debut album dropped in May 2025 via her own label, Sweet Twenty-Three Records.

Book tickets now.

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When: 7.30pm on Friday 21 November 2025
Where: Low Four Studio, Deansgate Mews, Great Northern, Manchester M3 4EN

PLEASE NOTE: This show has now sold out!

We’re delighted to welcome Gustaffson to Low Four!

Gustaffson released their critically acclaimed debut album Black & White Movie in March 2025, recorded with elbow’s Craig Potter at Blueprint Studios in Manchester.

With an emphasis on timeless storytelling and striking arrangements, it was a Rolling Stone album of the week and received rave reviews from Jo Whiley, Chris Hawkins, Guy Garvey and Gaby Roslin.

Formed around the songwriting talents of childhood friends Andrew Gower and James Webster, Gustaffson played a series of sold out shows Liverpool, Manchester and London in support of the album. This summer, they’re back in Blueprint Studios to record new music and will return to the stage for two celebratory shows to close out the year.

‘One of the bands to watch in 2025’ – Louder Than War

‘This will stop you in your tracks’ – Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music

‘Lush widescreen romantic tales which echo the like of Bruce Springsteen’ – The London Standard

Before Gustaffson’s performance, the audience will be treated to a Q&A with Andrew Gower and Craig Potter, hosted by Chris Hawkins (BBC 6 Music).

This show takes place at Low Four – a recording studio situated on Deansgate Mews in the Great Northern warehouse. This intimate venue features a fully stocked Cloudwater bar.

This is a 14+ show. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

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When: 7pm on Saturday 22 November 2025
Where: Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD

We’re delighted to be working with Penguin Cafe again, as they perform music from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra!

2025 sees Penguin Cafe bringing the music of the legendary Penguin Cafe Orchestra back to life, with UK dates featuring a collection of PCO classics, celebrating the unique sound that has captivated audiences worldwide.

To coincide with this revival, six original PCO albums are being re-released on vinyl for the first time since their initial pressings, courtesy of [INTEGRAL] / Universal Music Recordings at the end of 2024 and will be available to buy at live shows.

This show is a co-promotion with Manchester Folk Festival.

Book tickets now. Tickets are also available from Rncm.ac.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

Attend on: Facebook

When: 7.30pm on Saturday 29 November 2025
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to be working with Junior Brother again!

Carefully pushing the boundaries of what modern Irish folk can look and sound like, Junior Brother is an idiosyncratic, challenging, and richly lyrical singer/songwriter from County Kerry. His much-anticipated third album, The End, is due to arrive on 5 September via Strap Originals, a label forged with love by Pete Doherty of The Libertines.

In a statement from the label, Strap say: ‘We’re beyond excited to have this extraordinary Irish artist join our label. One of the most unique and powerful voices out there.’

Junior Brother shared his excitement about the signing: ‘I’m delighted to be bringing my record The End out on such a great label – I look forward to sharing the same roster as such favourites as Peter Doherty, Real Farmer, Warmduscher and loads more. Excitin’ times ahead!’

Following the success of his 2024 single Take Guilt, Junior Brother offers another taste of his upcoming LP with Small Violence, a powerful track that addresses the growing influence of misinformation and the escalating wave of conspiracy-fuelled hatred.

Speaking about the new track, Junior Brother says: ‘Small Violence follows a character pulled in by a small few who enjoy using violent words to stoke real violence further down the line. The intro riff was heavily inspired by the Opening Titles of The Blood on Satan’s Claw, a Folk Horror from 1971 which I highly recommend to anyone except the sensible.’

The End is a deeply instinctive yet carefully considered response to the chaos of modern life, with Junior Brother weaving the recent years of upheaval into the eerie folklore of Fairy Forts. These ring-shaped earth mounds, scattered across the Irish countryside, are known to possess an energy that can bewilder, curse, or even lead the unwary astray. Stepping into one is to risk losing yourself – both physically and spiritually. To Junior Brother, this ancient folklore mirrors the disorienting reality of today’s world.

‘The sound of the album is supposed to take the organic instruments of Irish traditional music and lift them somewhere else,’ Junior Brother explains, ‘like the otherworldly Irish music sometimes heard from Fairy Forts at twilight on country roads, impossible to recreate upon hearing.’ The End captures this essence, blending the raw textures of traditional Irish music with spectral, unearthly elements.

Much of the album’s inspiration was drawn from UCD’s Folklore Collection on duchas.ie. ‘I delved into the manuscripts – endless eyewitness accounts of Fairy Forts being stepped into and the land altering, the familiar mutating,’ Junior Brother shares. ‘Farmers, teachers, the sober, the smart – all losing their way home one way or the other.’ In these uncanny tales of displacement and confusion, he found striking parallels to the instability and distortion of contemporary life.

Thematically, The End explores forces that work against nature (New Road, Welcome to My Mountain), the rise of the far-right (Small Violence, Today My Uncle Told Me), and confrontations with mortality (Old Bell, Start Digging). Through the lens of rural Irish folklore, the album reflects the bewildering madness of the present moment.

‘The title The End represents the moment after being led astray, when the grip of madness releases you and you suddenly see your way home,’ says Junior Brother. ‘It may reflect the doom of a world gone mad, but it also represents the end of darkness, and the start of a new road.’

Special guest is Pearl Fish.

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When: 7pm on Monday 1 December 2025
Where: The Strines Nightingale, 105 Strines Rd, Strines, Marple, Stockport SK6 7GE

PLEASE NOTE: This show has already sold out! But fear not, Beans on Toast and his band play Band on the Wall on Saturday 14 March – book tickets now. 

Note the early show times: doors 7pm, with Nuala on at 7.30pm and Beans on Toast at 8.30pm (until 10pm).

We’re excited to hosting Beans on Toast’s album launch show at The Strines Nightingale!

Following the announcement of Kill Them With Kindness, the new album from Beans on Toast, due for release December 1st via BOTMusic, the Essex-born folk troubadour has now released the first single to be taken from the album.

Titled The Glastonbury Oak, the breezy, feel-good song tells the true story about a tree Beans on Toast acquired at Glastonbury in 2024, and how it ended up being planted at a pub on the outskirts of the Peak District.

“It’s a story song,” he explains. “I’ve got a lot of songs that celebrate trees, a lot of songs that celebrate music festivals and a lot of songs that celebrate music venues; this song celebrates all three.

“In a sense, it’s a song about ritual, and about giving our lives meaning by placing importance on things that might sometimes be overlooked,” he continues. “This summer, I took a stunt double of the tree to Glastonbury and invited friends, along with random folk I met there, to take the tree on adventures around the festival and film it. The music video is a collection of those clips, alongside footage filmed when I returned to The Strines Nightingale to play another show. This is the fantastic pub where The Glastonbury Oak still stands proud.”

Perfectly, on the very day that the ‘Kill Them With Kindness’ album is due for release on December 1st, Beans on Toast will launch the album at The Strines Nightingale and will check in on The Glastonbury Oak’s growth!

“We’ll be celebrating trees, music, ritual, tradition, and my birthday, Let it grow,” he says.

Recorded at Greenmount Studios in Leeds with The Beans on Toast Band, ‘Kill Them With Kindness’ features a collection of insanely talented musical friends hand-picked from the UK music and festival scene.

“We’ve done a few tours together, but this was our first venture into a studio. Each one of them is amazing, and together… well, I’m proper chuffed with how it sounds,” Beans on Toast explains. “This album is a bit of a juxtaposition, as is the title. There are songs that deal with the current state of the world. Wars, maniac leaders, the rise of AI and the fall of the establishment. Then there are songs about trees, late nights in music venues, art, love and my new cat. As usual, it’s a time stamp of my thoughts and feelings from the past year on planet Earth.”

Beans on Toast hits the road with his full band in March 2026 – including a show at Band on the Wall on Saturday 14 March.

The new record is up there with his finest work to date, bouncing between songs about the shitshow of planet earth and the fall of the establishment, to family life, planting trees, and the absurdities of modern living.

Expect songs, stories, chaos and community in equal measure.

Tour support comes from Nuala.

This show takes place at the Strines Nightingale – a lovely country pub, formerly called the Sportsman, which re-opened in autumn 2022. Strines is on the Piccadilly-Sheffield train line, and on the 358 bus route from Stockport to Hayfield. This show will run until 10.30pm at the latest.

Buy tickets now. 

Attend on: Facebook

When: 8pm on Wednesday 3 December 2025
Where: Night & Day Cafe, 26 Oldham St, Manchester, M1 1JN

We’re delighted to working with Will Varley once again!

Will Varley returns with his seventh album, Machines Will Never Learn To Make Mistakes Like Me, to be released 30 May 2025 on MNRK Music Group, home to the likes of The Lumineers, Gregory Alan Isakov and Shakey Graves.

To celebrate, Will has announced even more UK dates to add to his World Tour including shows at the UK’s very best independent venues.

Inspired by his natural habitats of the East Kent Coast and the US Midwest, these songs are rich, lyrical tales that speak of hard touring, relationships on the rocks and the rebuilding of minds. Featuring some very special guest appearances including Billy Bragg, Eleni Drake and Bastille’s Dan Smith, the album continues Varley’s decade long exploration of the human condition, this time focusing on society’s ever-present threat of impending apocalypse, how we marry this with the mundane and the minutiae of our everyday lives and how we can find hope.

Produced at his ramshackle studio deep in the Kent swamps, alongside long-time friend and collaborator Tom Farrer, the album’s pallet marks a significant change in musicality, bringing a rich and luscious production to many of the songs and bringing Varley’s lyrical landscapes to life in full colour.

‘I wrote these songs in empty dive bars and hospital waiting rooms,’ Varley says. ‘I wrote them while sitting in maternity wards, hotel lobbies, motorway service stations and broken down tour buses in the dead of night.

‘This is an album about trying to be a hundred different people at the same time. About the fires you remember when you are alone in the early hours. About the dreams you had once and never thought you’d forget. About trying to raise children while the world is ending outside. About end times and new beginnings.

‘This is an album about hope, desperation and survival. Love and dependency. The things we do not know, the lives we do not live, and trying to find peace in whatever is left.’

Special guest is Chloe Hawes. Chloe Hawes’ unique, transatlantic, sound combines modern British folk with the cinematic sentimentality of classic Americana and a punk rock outlook. Chloe’s triumphant tragedies tell tales of late-night misadventures, lost love and a yearning for both the past and the future with the singer/songwriter at the peak of their powers on debut album Remains/Reminders. 

Chloe’s smoky-voiced storytelling and down-to-earth nature have endeared them to audiences across the UK, Europe and the USA. In recent years, the Essex-born artist has also played sold out shows around the UK, performed at punk festivals in Manchester, Copenhagen, Montreal and Florida.

Book tickets now.

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