COSPLAY - Sorry Album Review

Three years on from the band’s sophomore record Anywhere but Here, Sorry return with their third genre-defying album Cosplay. Never ones to put themself into a box, the London five-piece sprinkle hints of trip hop, noise, and post-punk into their guitar and electronic driven indie rock. It’s an 11-track experience that goes from high energy, catchy hooks to confessional ballads that only furthers their uniqueness amongst the rest of the British indie scene. The band’s primary songwriters, frontwoman Asha Lorenz and co-lead vocalist and guitarist Louis O’Bryen, are joined on production credits by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey.

The first of six singles released, Waxwing, a synth-driven, electronic banger accompanied by Lorenz’ dreamy and breathy vocals, puts forward the album’s themes of romance in a scathingly sarcastic way. A theme that stays consistent on the repetitively catchy opening track Echoes, and through the witty, irony-laced spoken vocals of Jetplane. The band swap out high energy with vulnerability and atmosphere on track Life In This Body with O’Bryen taking vocal lead over the beautiful, building instrumentation. The band closes the album with JIVE, a track that switches from sincerity to noise that gives one last burst of danceable energy before you find yourself questioning which track you’re going to end up looping for the coming days.

Cosplay is arguably the band’s most exciting and mature album yet. It’s as strange as it is addictive and feels like Sorry have put extra care into creating something that stands out not only in their own discography, but amongst the British indie and post-punk revival scene in general. Undoubtedly a record that will generate hype for future setlists and festival spots.

Words by Aella Bentley

Plan 76 - The Orchestra (For Now) Review

The Orchestra (For Now), Credit: Molly Boniface

Aptly named, Plan 76 follows its predecessor (Plan 75) with the same sense of purpose that has made The Orchestra (For Now) one of the most intriguing names to come out of London’s Windmill scene. This scene has been behind some of the UK’s most important names when it comes to guitar music in the past few years.

They share DNA with The Windmill scenes biggest export, Black Country, New Road, not through imitation but the same collective mindset. Theres a sense of something bigger being built throughout the EP, organised chaos that isn’t asking for approval. All seven members are tapped into that same strange wavelength, sharing the energy which gives Plan 76 it’s weight. It manages to be theatrical without being performative, you can tell this is a band that values tension over a resolution.

So, what is the plan? That’s kind of the point. Plan 76 doesn’t interest itself with explaining. There’s a deliberate unease that runs through the EP, where each track feels as if it’s seconds away from falling apart but somehow holds itself together. Impatient opens with soft vocals and a fragile guitar line, this combination lures you in before the track erupts into chaos. Hattrick folds violin and percussion into something you’d expect in a theatre rather than a rock song while Amsterdam buries tension beneath its upbeat pulse.

The Administration takes the tension scattered through this EP to its breaking point. It’s a slow unravelling of everything that makes Plan 76 so great. There’s something unsettling about how uncontrolled it feels, like the band are testing the limits of their own composure. Closing track Deplore You / Farmers Market feels like a natural release, letting all the pressure fade through a long spiralling finale. The kind of song that feels bigger than the room it’s in.

If there is a plan, it’s clearly working. The Orchestra (For Now) don’t need to explain what they’re doing, the EP speaks loud enough on its own.

The Orchestra (For Now) UK Headline Shows:

13th Nov - Sheffield, UK - Hallamshire Hotel,
14th Nov - Glasgow, UK - Hug & Pint,
15th Nov - Live at Leeds In the City, UK
16th Nov - Manchester, UK - YES Pink Room
18th Nov - London, UK - Scala
20th Nov - Bristol, UK - The Exchange
21st Nov - Southampton, UK - Heartbreakers
22nd Nov - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store
4th Dec - Cambridge, UK - Portland Arms

Plan 76 Cover Art

From The Pyre - The Last Dinner Party Review

The past couple of years have been a whirlwind for baroque pop breakthrough The Last Dinner Party. We’ve seen them go from London’s Windmill scene to a Mercury Prize nomination and a Number 1 album with Prelude to Ecstasy. Now, just over a year later, they rise from the flames with From the Pyre, a record that trades divine grandeur for something more grounded and cathartic.

If their debut was the coronation, From the Pyre is the sound of what comes after the crown is placed. The band still lean into their dramatic side, but there is a new sense of grit and self-awareness in their sound. Produced by Markus Dravs, known for his work with Florence and the Machine and Arcade Fire, the album builds on the ornate baroque pop of their debut, expanding it with rich textures and a sharp emotional focus.

The lead single This is the Killer Speaking opens with power and intent. It is theatrical yet unfiltered, driven by pulsing percussion and Abigail Morris’s commanding vocals. The Scythe continues this energy, mixing poetic fatalism and strong rhythm to create a track that encapsulates The Last Dinner Party at their best, a definite highlight on this record. Second Best captures their flair for melodrama and emotional sincerity, while Rifle stands out as one of the record’s most atmospheric moments. The closing track Inferno lives up to its name, finishing the album in a swirl of heat and release, a final burst of grandeur before it fades to ash.

Dravs’s production keeps everything slick and expressive, highlighting the band’s evolving musicianship. The Last Dinner Party expand on the baroque pop world they built on their debut, creating something confident and rich in detail. For a group once accused of being over-polished, this album feels alive and intentional. It may not excel in the same way as Prelude to Ecstasy, but it burns with conviction. From the Pyre proves that The Last Dinner Party have not only survived their own hype, they have reshaped it into something real and unique.

Watch The Last Dinner Party perform The Scythe Live From The Pyre