HONESTY
HONESTY is not a band in the traditional sense. With four core members - George Mitchell.
Matt Peel, Josh Lewis and Imi Marston - and a rotating cast of collaborators which have included musicians and visual artists like Kosi Tides, Softlizard, Rarelyalways, Florence Shaw, and Liam Bailey, the Leeds-based collective emerged as an exercise in doing things differently on a journey towards selt-acceptance.
HONESTY's vital debut album U R HERE, released February 2025, melds influences that range from Mount Kimbie and My Bloody Valentine to Björk and Burial. The result is a subtly exhilarating take on club music that's become HONESTY's signature and the reason they're one of the most essential dance acts coming out of the UK.
Individually and as a collective, HONESTY have found a way to break themselves down and rebuild into something new every time evolving through their idiosyncratic audio-visual shows.
Where they go from here is anyone's guess.
FFO / Mount Kimbe, Burial, Live Visuals
BATHING SUITS
Operating under the mantra “Always dancey. Always loud. Always sexy,” Bathing Suits fuse abrasive guitars with pummelling techno to create a visceral noise-trance sound. Drawing inspiration from the frenetic energy of Model/Actriz and Psychotic Monks alongside the raunchy edge of early-2010s pop, their new single “Empathy” (Underplay Recordings) is a seven-minute club exorcism produced by DJ Subaru.
Borne from Leeds’ DIY party scene, the band have built a reputation for their high-octane live shows, sharing stages with Prostitute, Man/Woman/Chainsaw and TTSSFU, and appearing at festivals including Transmusicales, The Great Escape and Green Man.
FFO / Gilla Band, Model/Actriz, Psychotic Monks
KIOSK
eeds based electronic duo Kiosk make dance-punk influenced by the city's diverse DIY scene. Their sound shifts between postpunk inflected dance beats, dreamy soundscapes and pounding techno noise, combining drum machines and analogue synthesis with raw lyrics and heavily processed bass.
FFO / Crystal Castles, Suicide
Terza Rima
Terza Rima make understated guitar pop from Nottingham. Echoes of The Wake, Orange Juice and Durutti Column run through the songs, but so does a sense of place: city centres after dark, empty streets, familiar faces and the strange poetry of everyday life. Built around chiming guitars and melodic basslines, their music favours patience over immediacy and atmosphere over excess.
FFO / Orange Juice, Hers, The Drums, The Wake
the carousel
nottingham
25 Hockley,
NG1 1FH
www.thecarousel.uk
