Audio

Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | May 2024

It's our favourite time again.

Danny Jones - 31st May 2024

Oh, how the months roll over; we can’t believe it’s the end of May and we’re on to yet another list of amazing Manchester artists for you to get stuck into.

We’re sure you’re already on to most of them, you cultured lot, and even if not, that’s what we’re here for.

If you’ve not found yourself on this monthly series before, the concept is pretty simple: every few weeks we spotlight the most exciting Manchester bands and artists we’ve had on our radar recently.

Revolutionary, we know. But seriously, it’s as important as ever that we big up the names coming out of our region, so let’s not waste any more time, shall we?

1. Pale Waves

This time we’re starting off with the wonderful Pale Waves who we recently had the pleasure of seeing at Slam Dunk North over in Leeds.

It’s always good to see Manc bands drawing big crowds on the festival circuit and they certainly did that. These guys have been making a big name for themselves for a few years now and are even set to headline the Neighbourhood all-dayer in the city centre later this year, so it’s no surprise really.

We’ve been lucky enough to catch them live a few times now but if you’ve never heard their mix of pop-punk, alt-rock and often twinkly 80s-influenced indie before, we’d say start with ‘Television Romance’, work your way to ‘There’s a Honey’ and then ‘Jealousy’. That should give you a good broad-strokes idea.

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2. Corella

Next up is another fast-rising homegrown talent in Corella, who finally dropped their debut album, Once Upon a Weekend, at the start of this month and we’ve been rinsing it ever since.

Infectious modern indie typified, we’ve been listening to these lads ever since ‘Barcelona Girl’ and they just keep getting better – as typified by them selling out the O2 Ritz on… oh, would you look at that? It’s tonight.

If you didn’t get a ticket for their landmark hometown show, you can also catch them at NBHD 2024 and as for what tracks you should listen to in preparation, the single from 2017 that we’ve already mentioned is where we started, ‘Drifting’ is in our rotation and simply nothing beats ‘Bloom’. A great running track.

Still riding high on the wave from KOKO 🌊 This tour so far has been the best yet and London was something we’ve only ever dreamt of, but you guys made it possible.

More of this in a few days Norwich & Manchester! pic.twitter.com/tmefNMpRJM
— Corella (@Corellamusic) May 26, 2024

3. Matthew Halsall

A big genre change now and we’re going modern jazz. Make that spiritual jazz, to be specific, and it’s certainly how we feel when we listen to this bloke: in tune with our spirit.

The Manc trumpeter, composer and producer has a real knack for making music that you want to relax, create and cook to, as well as a whole host of other moods. We often find him playing whilst staring out the window with a brew or with our heads back on the sofa as we close our eyes and simply drift away.

As for your jumping-off points, ‘Calder Shapes’ crops up in our playlists most often but ‘Cherry Blossom’ is a lovely lo-fi option on a chilled Sunday afternoon, and his tune ‘Into Forever’ with his record label’s Gondwana Orchestra is another gentle but transportive favourite of ours. We could go on forever.

He’s not been at Manchester Jazz Festival this year but he’s one of our best in that genre.

4. Rosellas

In at number four, we’ve got Rosellas, who’ve steadily worked their way up through various club sets across the UK and North in particular, even playing City Square over at the Etihad Stadium, and are now starting to gain even more traction.

They can turn their hand to most stuff really, be it the all-important catchy hook, a decent indie bouncer or the equally communal feeling soft, acoustic-driven ballad, but there’s something very 90s/early 2000s and quintessentially Manc about their music.

We’ll admit that we can’t quite place what it is beyond perhaps the guitar riffs themselves, but maybe you’ll have better luck than we have so far. Our trio of picks are ‘Slowdance’, ‘Switch Off’ and ‘Damaged’.

Great track.

5. MALCOLM

Last but not least, we’ve got a band so new to the Manchester music scene that they’ve only got two songs out for you to get stuck into but we’re going to be watching them closely indeed.

Don’t be fooled by the name, they’re a four-piece with hints of everything from Inhaler to Catfish and the Bottlemen, as well as pretty much every current indie band that’s doing anything good in modern indie rock, hence why we think they’re going to pick up momentum quickly.

The best part is, you can get on the bandwagon early by listening to ‘Subconscious’ and ‘C’est La Vie’. Plus, if there’s one thing we know about bands from around here it’s that they graft and we’re going to guess that you can expect another new tune soon enough.