Arctic Monkeys claim their fifth nomination for the Mercury Prize for there 7th album The Car, making them joint most nominated artists in the award history along side Radiohead.

A popular fan favourite single from the album The Car by Arctic Monkeys “There better be a mirror ball.”  along with singles such as “Perfect sense” and “Hello you” could see a second time win for the band.

Mercury Prize Awards celebrates its 32nd year, although last years show was cancelled out of respect, for Queen Elizabeth’s II death.

This years show will go ahead in all its glory on September 7th at 9pm and will be played on BBC 4 and on iPlayer, along with full coverage, from BBC Radio 6, as well as all BBC online and social media outlets. Showcasing some amazing artists, and their latest albums, viewers and listeners will have a whole host of talent to look forward to.

London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, will hold this years award show and tickets are available to purchase. Hosting this years Mercury Awards is DJ and Television presenter Lauren Laverne. There is no further announcement as to whether she will have a guest presenter along side her.

Each performer announced will feature 10 live and two pre-recorded performances at the award show; however, both Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again will be touring in September and unable to attend this years show. Instead, a special film will be shown, to celebrate both of their award nominated albums.

Mercury awards see’s four nominations for the second time, from acts Jhus, Loyle Carner, Young Father and Jessie Ware.

Jessie Ware on release of her album That! Feels Good! which is the title track to the first song, wrote on her official Instagram page to say, “This album is no longer mine, its all yours!”

Jessie Ware in an interview with NME, commented on how she felt to be nominated for her album That! Feels Good!, a decade on since her last Mercury nomination. She said, “It’s nice to see brilliant artists and lovely to be amongst them. It’s amazing to be up for my second Mercury a decade on, and I feel proud of myself.”

This highly sort after award has previously been won by the likes of Portishead in 1995 with their album Dummy, Badly Drawn Boy in 2000 with album The Hour of Bewilderbeast and Arctic Monkeys in 2006 with album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

Mercury Prize Award has no categories, and is open to all musical genres, with 12 shortlisted ‘Album of the Year’ with 1 winner. The artist to win the award will take home, not only the ‘Album of the Year’ trophy, but also a cash prize of £25,000 pounds. Not to mention blow up their social media and public awareness.

22-23! PRESALE GOES LIVE TOMORROW 10AM pic.twitter.com/H77fhQA47a

— jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) September 20, 2022

As mentioned before, Jockstrap have already finished 2 tours in the UK so far this year. After the first ended in March the group allowed themselves to have a moment to breathe before taking part in a handful of instore shows to celebrate the release of their debut LP I Love You Jennifer B. Now the album has dropped, and is being strongly praised pretty universally – not to try and give my own opinion – the group can finally tour the album to the world. Starting with Europe.

Ever since their joining back in 2019, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – otherwise known as one of the most underrated and creative bands of the post-brexit-new-wave era Jockstrap – have continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be in a band in today’s day and age. The amalgamation of Ellery’s classical training in vocals and violin, and Skye’s immensely idiosyncratic production style has allowed for some unique, and quite challenging electro-pop out today. While the 2-piece setup is nothing new, until now it seemed impossible to be in one without seeming like you’re just copying The White Stripes and just doing it worse (I’m looking at you Royal Blood). But Skye’s production and performance style almost seem more reminiscent of a band like The xx, which lends itself perfectly to the incredibly technical and clearly well-rehearsed style of Ellery. You can hear the musicianship particularly well in their most recent single. See the video for the most recent single ‘Glasgow’ below.

Recently, it was discovered that I Love You Jennifer B almost didn’t make it to the public after the only copy of the album was stolen at a restaurant in London. Fortunately for us all, iconic London rapper Slowthai was there to chase after the thief and retrieve the stolen Laptop containing the album.

Ellery will also hit the stage with her 2^nd, and arguable larger, project Black Country, New Road before the end of the year. the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. BC,NR started touring in May, and they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not perform any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.”

7/2/22 – Liverpool – District
9/2 – Newcastle – The Cluny
10/2 – Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
11/2 – Sheffield – Foundry
13/2 – Oxford – Bullingdon
15/2 – London – Heaven
16/2 – Margate – Olbys
17/2 – Manchester – Gorilla

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Ever since their joining back in 2019, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – otherwise known as one of the most underrated and creative bands of the post-brexit-new-wave era Jockstrap – have continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be in a band in today’s day and age. The amalgamation of Ellery’s classical training in vocals and violin, and Skye’s immensely idiosyncratic production style has allowed for some unique, and quite challenging electro-pop out today. While the 2-piece setup is nothing new, until now it seemed impossible to be in one without seeming like you’re just copying The White Stripes and just doing it worse (I’m looking at you Royal Blood). But Skye’s production and performance style almost seem more reminiscent of a band like The xx, which lends itself perfectly to the incredibly technical and clearly well-rehearsed style of Ellery. You can hear the musicianship particularly well in their most recent single. See the video for the most recent single ‘Glasgow’ below.

Tickets to the second UK tour have already gone on sale, but you can try and bag any remaining tickets here. The tour really ensures that Ellery is going to have a busy year, Black Country, New Road have also set themselves up for a massive EU/UK tour, the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. BC,NR started touring in May, and they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not perform any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.”

Recently, it was discovered that I Love You Jennifer B almost didn’t make it to the public after the only copy of the album was stolen at a restaurant in London. Fortunately for us all, iconic London rapper Slowthai was there to chase after the thief and retrieve the stolen Laptop containing the album.

Jockstrap instore tour dates:

9/11/22 – Rough Trade East – London
11/11 – Rough Trade – Nottingham
12/11 – Banquet Records – Kingston
13/11 – Elsewhere – Margate

Skye told the magazine, “Ty chased the guy down and got the laptop back.” The bag contained the only copy of the album that he and Ellery had spent the last few years working on. There was no backup anywhere. Because of this, the acclaimed British rapper got a special mention in the liner notes for their forthcoming album I Love You Jennifer B.

Skye and Ellery met in 2016 at London’s Guildhall of Music & Drama, and Jockstrap fuses Skye’s electronic production with Ellery’s songwriting. Since making their debut in late 2017 with their first single, “I Want Another Affair,” which later appeared on their 2018 debut EP, Love Is the Key to the City, the pair has been on the ascendancy; Rolling Stone saying, “Over those two EPs — and their corresponding, exceptionally out-there remix projects — Jockstrap have honed an adventurous, irreverent approach to music that doesn’t sacrifice songcraft or feeling”.

The band have released two singles from the forthcoming album, “Concrete Over Water”, a six-minute epic that “drifts from tender ambience to orchestral splendor to dancefloor ecstasy”, and “Glasgow” – about a trip to the Scottish city and an unforgettable night at the famous Sub Club. You can watch the videos for both the songs below.

On their songwriting dynamic, Skye told the magazine: “I don’t really talk to Georgia about what the songs are about, or try to figure out, lyrically, what’s going on. I’ll just go with my instinct. We both like listening to lots of music as we make music, so I have ideas that I want to try. And usually, if Georgia’s song is good, and my idea is good, regardless of how you might think they work, or don’t work together, we usually make it work. It’s quite nice having two interesting things going on at the same time.”

Ellery continued saying that she enjoys the results of giving up control, saying, “That’s what I want to hear — the surprise. That sells it for me. It’s a first-time-listener reaction, and that’s what you’re gonna get, times 1000, when people listen to it.”

Both grew up in quieter parts of the UK and revealed that moving to London was an important step in their creative evolution, Skye saying, “There were so many things being held in this place: The opportunity to make something happen, the opportunity to meet other people that are doing what you’re doing, to see things.” Ellery continued, “That was the stimulus for a lot of the songwriting — the city, and all these formative experiences.” Later adding: “If it’s about love or the city, then it’s within our language.”

Pre-sale is LIVE!!! Get your tix here: https://t.co/d0HSYVE9pB pic.twitter.com/tJG8yCOg9F

— jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) April 13, 2022

WE ARE BACK AT EOTR THIS YEAR, SAT NIGHT . V special show pic.twitter.com/A8xW9Ahwyn — jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) July 20, 2022

I Love You Jennifer B comes out September 9^th of this year on Rough Trade Records, you can pre-order the album here. The band will be touring to promote the release of the album, dates are below, and tickets are available here. They will also be playing the sold-out End of The Road Festival on September 3^rd.

29/09/ 2022 – The Mash House – Edinburgh
30/09 – Stereo – Glasgow
01/10 – The White Hotel – Manchester (Sold out)
3/10 – Belgrave Music Hall – Leeds
4/10 – Hare & Hounds – Birmingham
5/10 – The Fleece – Bristol
07/10 – Norwich Arts Centre – Norwich
08/10 – Patterns – Brighton
10/10 – Village Underground – London (Sold out)
11/10 – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff

Describing the lead single, half of the Jockstrap equation Taylor Skye stated; “‘Glasgow’ is our coming of age, moving forward, long-distance, travelling, beautiful bosk, wonderful thicket song.” The video which accompanies this heart-warming track sees the duo bound and frolic through their respective habitats, the disparity of their outlook as they make their way along sandy shores and byroad junctions create something gleefully funny. The song features a sweet acoustic chord progression that swirls amongst the twinkling circuit crackles and symphonic strings. Once again, This group weave a certain kind of magic that puts you in a myriad of moods and feelings all at once, leaving you feeling both excited and bemused as you try and fit the pieces together. Check out the video down below:

Discussing the upcoming LP, bandmembers Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye said; “I Love You Jennifer B is a collection of Jockstrap tracks that have been 3 years in the making. Everything on it is pretty singular sounding so we hope there is a track on there for everyone and something that speaks to you and says ‘I’m a banger.’”

With a host of new hits sure to hit that familiar sweet spot, the new album will also include an extended version of their semi-recent smash hit “50/50”. Take a look at the official track listing down below:

1.Neon
2. Jennifer B
3. Greatest Hits
4. What’s It All About?
5. Concrete Over Water
6. Angst
7. Debra
8. Glasgow
9. Lancaster Court
10. 50/50 (Extended)

The forthcoming record can be pre-ordered at the bands website!

As of July, Jockstrap will hit the road across the UK, Europe and the US. Tickets for these dates are available here, with location information found in the list beneath;

Tour Dates:

24/07/2022- Bluedot Festival- Cheshire, UK
29/09- The Mash House- Edinburgh, UK
30/09- Stereo- Glasgow, UK
01/10- The White Hotel- Manchester, UK
03/10- Belgrave Music Hall- Leeds, UK
04/10-  Hare & Hounds- Birmingham, UK
05/10- The Fleece- Bristol, UK
07/10- Norwich Arts- Norwich, UK
08/10-  Patterns- Brighton, UK
10/10- Village Underground- London, UK
11/10-  Clwb Ifor Bach- Cardiff, UK

London show x pic.twitter.com/v34FdbBwrD

— jockstrap (@jockstrapmusic1) May 2, 2022

Ever since their joining back in 2019, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – otherwise known as one of the most underrated and creative bands of the post-brexit-new-wave era Jockstrap – have continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be in a band in today’s day and age. The amalgamation of Ellery’s classical training in vocals and violin, and Skye’s immensely idiosyncratic production style has allowed for some unique, and quite challenging electro-pop out today. While the 2-piece setup is nothing new, until now it seemed impossible to be in one without seeming like you’re just copying The White Stripes and just doing it worse (I’m looking at you Royal Blood). But Skye’s production and performance style almost seems more reminiscent of a band like The xx, that lends itself perfectly to the incredibly technical and clearly well-rehearsed style of Ellery. You can hear the musicianship particularly well in their most recent single. See the video for ‘Concrete Over Water’ below.

Tickets to the tour have already gone on sale, but there may be available tickets here. As for the London show though, watch this space and we’ll see. In keeping with their theme, the band also stated in a press release that a full-length LP may be due sooner rather than later. But obviously, nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

The tour really ensures that Ellery is going to have a busy year, Black Country, New Road have also set themselves up for a massive EU/UK tour, the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. Set to begin in May, they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not be performing any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.”

Alongside the single announcement, which also comes with rumblings of an upcoming Jockstrap debut LP according to a press release, the band have also laid out plans to embark on an extensive UK tour. Beginning at Edinburgh’s Mash House this September, the tour will see the band take on 10 dates spread over the UK, before concluding at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach in October. Fan Pre-sale begins tomorrow (Wednesday April 13th) at 10am, with general sale then going ahead  the following morning (Thursday April 14th) again at 10am. You can find full ticket information here.

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The tour really ensures that Ellery is going to have a busy year, Black Country, New Road have also set themselves up for a massive EU/UK tour, the group’s first since the departure of lead vocalist Isaac Woods back in February. Set to begin in May, they had this to say, “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you.
The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music. We will not be performing any music from ‘For the first time’ or ‘Ants From Up There’.” Considering the standard of music that the group have already put out, the next month could be a long wait for fans that just want to know how exactly things are going to work now, watch this space.

Jockstrap’s UK tour:

29/9/22 – Mash House – Edinburgh
30/9 – Stereo – Glasgow
1/10 – White Hotel – Manchester
3/10 – Belgrave Music Hall – Leeds
4/10 – Hare & Hounds – Birmingham
5/10 – The Fleece – Bristol
7/10 – Norwich Arts Centre – Norwich
8/10 – Patterns – Brighton
10/10 – Village Underground – London
11/10 – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff

Jockstrap have been on the radar since their debut EP Love is the Key to the City earned them features in publications like DAZED, DIY and The Quietus. Since then, the band have produced a remix album Lost my Key in the <3 Club <3, several singles and most recently an EP titled Wicked City.

The City appears to be a running theme in their work. Georgia said in an interview that the City as an idea ‘represents [the] formative experiences [she’s] had here, in London’. Both Ellery and Skye came to London to study at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Ellery from coastal Cornwall and Skye from the East Midlands.

The duo met during their first year of studies, at Uni halls in the Barbican and are now in their final year. While Ellery is a Jazz violinist, Skye studies electronic music, but neither are pigeonholed by their disciplines. Ellery cites Joni Mitchell, Elton John and drone metal band Sunn O))) as influences while Skye refers to John Cage, Leonard Cohen and Muse in interviews.

Their creations are academic, almost to the point of being inaccessible. Wicked City is definitely the product of two people studying music at a high level and, in the words of Pitchfork, there is ‘more than a whiff of art-school hijinks to the project’. At the end of penultimate track The City, Ellery narrates a passage from Kathy Acker’s postmodernist novel Blood and Guts in High School over a squeaky and discordant beat laid down by Taylor.

Ellery says she’s drawn toward the ‘perverse imagery‘ in Acker’s writing, perhaps shedding light on their choice of band name. Another thing she shares with Acker is a reluctance to abide by linear narratives. Jockstrap’s 2020 track Robert featuring Injury Reserve makes no effort to be coherent. It starts with Ellery addressing Robert Mapplethorpe in a robotic voice with the words You’re provoking me Robert// I want to your playmate// I want my own portrait.

Then comes a drum interval and the entrance of Steppa J. Groggs rapping over an industrial sounding beat: Pull up to the blacktop party wearing Vans, I’m off the wall// Burn the body with some gasoline just to top it off. Toward the end of the track, Skye chops up the words with some seriously experimental beats and the overall result is baffling. Jockstrap are the first to admit this, saying in an interview that they spent a long time ‘questioning’ whether the song ‘made any sense’.

This contrasts with songs like City Hell, where Ellery’s classical training is more apparent. Only for a short while though, until Skye’s glitchy beat comes in and subverts our expectations yet again. Their club mix of this is a dance track that I can’t imagine dancing to. But it exemplifies the duo’s disregard for genre and desire to make something that challenges their listeners. Jockstrap are one to keep watching; what other band could convincingly claim ‘Skrillex and Robert Mapplethorpe inspired this track‘?

Left and right, every music critic is now crazily hyped over newbie duo Jockstrap. (Please add the word ‘band’ after their name on your search engine trip if you do not wish to come across some jaw-dropping content.) They have gained so much attention thanks to their elctropop tunes that will leave you either confused or amazed, or both!

The duo consists of Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye, students from legendary Guildhall. Ellery as a pursuer in a jazz degree specialised in violin while Skye as an electronic music student, they both met at the school and formed a band around 2018 to defy the concept of genre with the music mixed good amounts of strings, electronic beats, and weirdness (largely due to haunting half-whisper vocal of Ellery).

Thanks to their impressive talents, they were quickly signed to Kaya Kaya Records and released their debut EP ‘Love Is the Key to the City‘ in November 2018. They also went to perform at the Iceland Airwaves Festival and got approved by the queen of weirdness Björk herself.

After building up their name in the music scene, the London-based duo is now ready to share their second piece of work ‘Wicked City‘ under Warp Records, home of Flying Lotus and Kelela. The EP is, in their words, “a response” to the 2018 debut.

“The heavy autobiographical narrative of Wicked City is married to an expressive and limitless sound world; influenced by everything we have ever musically absorbed and moulded with a ‘fuck it’ attitude,” the two told Dork about ‘Wicked City‘

They continued, “Particular musical features of this record include classical composition, through-composed songwriting and the heavy influence of dubstep. There are multiple narratives to Wicked City: sanity to madness; realism to surrealism and innocence to experience. But when it comes down to it, it’s a breakup / breakdown record that presents how I dealt with losing what I had when I wrote ‘love is the key’.”

“Robert” is the latest track giving the taste of ‘Wicked City‘. The track is yet another brilliant tune filled with a techno-infused beat and loads of distorted sound effects with some inspirations from “Skrillex and Robert Mapplethorpe“. Think of a less chaotic and disturbing version of 100 gecs.

The song is also featured the help from Injury Reserve’s Steppa J Groggs, who Jockstrap went on tour with. Check out the track below.

‘Wicked City‘ is out tomorrow (June 19). The EP contains five new tracks, including previously-released “Acid” and “The City“.

Prior to playing the piece, Sharp aired Jopckstrap’s new single “Acid”, which sounds as if a ’40s vocal jazz number has been yanked a century forward, as well as a conversation between Ellery and Smith on the recording process of their untitled composition. “It’s been nice to be able to make music without too much pressure”, Smith said of the piece, “something that’s so long with so few instruments … rather than an over-thought, over-arranged thing”.

“When you’re usually working with … three, four minutes, you try and stuff everything in”, Ellery elaborated, “[but this] was different to anything I’ve ever made … more freeing than usual”. On the piece’s beginnings, Ellery said that she had recorded some strings “which were kind of reminiscent of Górecki and I thought it’d be interesting to hear them married to Jamie’s production” though to my ears, they sound more like Reich. Whatever the influence, it’s clear that the key ingredient to the pair’s creative endeavour comes from being shut off from the outside world, “the luxury of never-ending time” as Sharp calls it. Well, that’s at least one silver lining to this pandemic.

“Acid” is the latest single from Jockstrap off of their forthcoming EP. Wicked City, the duo’s first release on Warp Records, will be made available on Friday the 5th on both vinyl and as a digital release. Ellery has described the EP as a “breakup/breakdown record that presents how I dealt with losing what I had when I wrote Love Is the Key [to the City]”, Jockstrap’s previous release. Having remained (relatively) quiet in the five years since his debut In Colour, Smith revealed a new song in April titled “Idontknow”. The music video was shot in Belfast the night before the city went into lockdown, and uploaded onto YouTube on the 6th of May alongside a short poem by director Oona Doherty. Watch the video below: