Ay up, you lot. It’s us again, back to give you another list of some of the best new music we’ve been listening to, be it little-known tunes from new and upcoming artists in Greater Manchester or the biggest releases from ever-rising names around the region.
We launched this new monthly series at the start of 2024 and will be serving up suggestions for all you Manc musos regularly throughout the year and beyond, so you best get in on the ground floor so as to as not to miss a single shout.
But let’s not faff about any longer, shall we?
Time to get stuck into five Manchester artists we’ve had on repeat throughout February — and it’s a leap year, so we’ve had an extra day of listening to make our picks.
Manc bands we’ve been listening to over the past month
1. Hello Cosmos
First off, we’ve got Hello Cosmos: a Manchester-based creative consisting of a four-piece at their core and other session musicians like Elara, a wonderful saxophone player and vocalist who is well worth looking into in her own right.
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Founded by From The Fields director, Ben Robinson — the events organisers behind Kendal Calling and bluedot — their style is a seriously wild mix of alternative electronic and pop-punk. Think Yard Act if they had more synths, sax, keys, violins and had a Christopher Eccelstone sound-alike on vocals.
Our standout tunes to start with have to be their ‘FUSE’ from their debut Dream Harder, ‘Loud Is Beautiful’ (which pretty much encapsulates the full range of their sound in one track) and ‘Metaverse’ — there’s also a great twist on it by Catu Diosis and that goes for the whole Hard Dirt (Remixed) album too.
We also got to see them live at Stockport’s new Live at St Mary’s gig series and it was quite the experience.
2. OMA
Next up is an instrumental outfit and touring band called OMA, who have played on stage with the likes of American rapper Isaiah Rashad as well as Japanese hip-hop artists and producer Shing02, and they just might be some of the coolest cats on socials right now.
Going more and more viral on TikTok every week with their live takes on hip-hop classics by Dr Dre, Nas, MF DOOM, Lauryn Hill, 2Pac and countless others, we can’t accurately describe just how much we want to be in a room and headbob to their addictive recreations of iconic beats from down the years.
Every clip is an absolute earworm and you simply can’t listen to any of them just once. They don’t have any signature tracks of their own but it only takes one video to get hooked. I mean, honestly, just listen to them — and bonus points if you can figure out where they’re playing:
In at number three, although we couldn’t possibly put this is any particular ranked order, is local indie-pop group Hi Sienna — a bunch of best mates based out of Chorlton who make great stuff and they’re absolutely wonderful.
With every member taking time out of work to make their music dream happen, they sum up their sound perfectly in their tagline: unsigned, unmanaged and unbelievably good. Too right. We also recently had the pleasure of chatting with them as part of the new series of Stream GM’s Spill The Sound.
It’s nothing but positive vibes and non-stop fun listening to these lot and if we had to pick our favourites, they would be ‘Enter Disco’, ‘Be A Man’ and the soon to be released ‘Pickleback’ which we got a cheeky glimpse of over at The Yard recently. It’s a belter.
The penultimate stop on this month’s list is the mighty Maruja, who are bringing both funk and punk roots to their alternative rock scene here in Greater Manchester and we can’t get enough.
Playing White Hotel and New Century this April as their profile keeps growing around the city centre and beyond, we reckon it won’t be long before you see their name everywhere — not that our incredible fandom and heavy bias are getting away with us or anything…
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Seriously though, they sound both familiar and unique enough if you’re this kind of stuff and genres that naturally overlap. We’d recommend kicking off with ‘Tao’, arguably their most popular tune ‘The Tinker’ second and then their latest single, ‘The Invisible Man’.
Last but by no means least is Cassia. They’re technically from down the Macclesfield but they’ve been plying their trade here in 0161 since they first began and we just hope they remember us and all our great proving grounds when they well and truly blow up. And trust us, they will.
Mixing tropical and Caribbean sounds with irresistible indie sonics and vocals, we just feel all nice and happy whenever we listen to them – almost as if we were on holiday. We also got to chat with these guys recently too and they were equally delightful.
If it’s your first time listening to them, you can’t go wrong with ‘Right There’, their new tune with KAWALA, ‘Circular Motion’, and a key part of our Summer 2022 soundtrack, ‘Drifting’. So, sooo good.
And that’s it for this month’s list and, believe us, it was a toughy as there were plenty of other local bands and artists that we could have picked, but we’re sure they’ll pop up on here soon enough.
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As always, be sure to keep your eyes over on The Manc Audio so you don’t miss a single bit of music news this year.
Oh yeah, and if you didn’t read last month’s selections of Manchester artists that you need to get on, you know what to do:
Featured Image — Cassia/Hello Cosmos (press image)/Hi Sienna (via IG)
Audio
Morrissey confirms his new album has already been written and reveals recording details
Danny Jones
Morrissey has confirmed that the next project set to succeed his still relatively new album, Make-up Is a Lie, has already been written.
He’s also disclosed when and where it will be recorded in a post on his own personal website.
The hailed Manc songwriter and former The Smiths frontman only dropped his recent release earlier this year, but it looks like the follow-up is already on the way.
Lyrically, Morrissey states, the album is basically done – now it’s just a case of putting it down on tape, with the Davyhulme-born artist scheduled to get back in the studio early next year.
In the post announcing a special 12-inch Notre-DameDeluxe EP – set to drop later this month – the 67-year-old spoke at length about the ‘lemonade’ yellow vinyl, which will no doubt become a collector’s item among his most dedicated die-hards.
More of a full-length listen, in truth, featuring tracks that ultimately didn’t make the cut for his last record, Make-Up Is a Lie, he says it “should be played unendurably loud.”
After thanking all his ever-passionate fans for buying his 14th solo studio album, he went on to add: “A certain injustice was rectified. The follow-up album has been written, and will be recorded in January in our beloved France. It already sounds like a winner…
“Happy ending never in doubt! … or … was it?”
Glean from that whatever you can, all we know is that it’s sparked plenty of interest on the forums, message boards and social media fan accounts already.
Earlier this year, we also found out that an ongoing feud between ‘Moz’ and his old bandmate Johnny Marr also meant that we were denied a special anniversary re-issue.
Let’s just say that with little love lost between the two and yet another LP apparently in the works already, you likely won’t be seeing any remasters any time soon, let alone the once-rumoured reunion.
After all, it took the Gallaghers more than 15 years to kiss, and these two seem to be still disputing over various matters after the best of four decades.
Meanwhile, Morrissey is already gearing up for a fresh run of tour domestic dates (insomnia permitting) later this year.
But, most notably, he’s chosen to skip out on one key location…
Mozza fans when they found out he's only coming to five UK cities on his tour later this year:
Stockport’s dedicated live music festival for people with complex needs is back for 2026
Danny Jones
A music festival designed specifically for people with complex needs and learning difficulties is returning to Stockport for 2026.
Marking more than half a decade of this important push for accessibility across the local and live entertainment sector, we couldn’t be prouder to hear stuff like this coming out of Greater Manchester.
Created by the Stopfordian-born charity, Pure Innovations – which has various arms, from their multiple cafes across the region, to Pure College in the town centre, events like this and more – this particular initiative is celebrating its sixth edition this year.
But it certainly doesn’t run itself, and it takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention truly admirable levels of commitment from volunteers, to put this thing on; with that in mind, we’re doing our little bit.
Whether it be helping spread the word, getting involved with sponsorship, volunteering yourselves, or offering other kinds of contributions on the day, it all goes a long way.
The organisation as a whole has been around for more than two decades now, and some of us and you may know it well (this particular writer used to work there as a teen, in fact), and their now annual ‘Access Festival’ has become a much-anticipated date on the calendar for so many.
Emily, who has overseen the festival’s growth for more than five years now, said in a statement to The Manc, “After going to a festival a few years ago, I realised that it wasn’t just the music that stayed with me; it was everything around it.”
She went on to add: “The excitement beforehand, choosing what to wear, planning the day, and then sharing photos and memories afterwards. It made me realise that many of the people we support at Pure had never had that experience.
“Access Festival is a space where everyone feels comfortable, included and able to enjoy themselves. For most people, going out to a gig or a festival is no big deal, but for many of our clients, this is the highlight of their year, a chance to connect and simply enjoy live music.”
Highlighting the charity’s long-standing commitment to ensuring that people with learning difficulties, autism and other disabilities are not denied access to everyday experiences, they’re now calling on fellow nearby businesses to help bring the festival to life.
We spoke to Emily and the rest of the team when we visited Pure’s in-house kitchen, bakery and workshop earlier this year – safe to say this is the kind of stuff that warms the cockles.
Taking place at Stockport’s Guildhall, the one-day festival is a powerful example of the difference Pure can make in their clients’ lives, supporting them to live full, independent and connected lives, with several securing paid employment thanks to skills and support gained during their time with the team.
Designed specifically for adults with learning disabilities, autism and other complex needs, the Access Festival creates a space where people can enjoy live music, socialise and celebrate in a way that works for them, something lots are sadly still routinely excluded from.
With live music, DJs, not to mention plenty of singing and dancing, karaoke, raffles, plenty of food and drink, not to mention serving as a key social outlet, it matters way more to many of these attendees, carers, families and local organisations than you’ll probably ever know.
It’s grown from a small passionate project hosting around 30 people to a heartwarming local event that now welcomes more than 300 guests every year, and it’s only getting bigger and better as time goes on.
Whether you want to help out or go along for yourselves, you can register for Access Fest 2026 on Friday, July 17, right HERE.
Danny Jones -
29th February 2024 
