Divorce
It might seem as though things happened very quickly for Divorce. The Nottingham four-piece, who once described themselves as “Wilco meets Abba”, formed in the pandemic and played their first gig supporting TV Priest in October 2021. That led to them becoming label mates at Hand in Hive (alongside the likes of Dama Scout and Tancred) who released their debut single in February 2022, the on-edge country-punk escape anthem Services. Their debut EP, Get Mean, arrived that December: less an intentionally curated collection than a breathless attempt at containing their first four singles, in and of itself a portrait of a band developing in real time – and one that earned them BBC Radio 6 playlisting and acclaim across the UK music press.
Recently supporting The Vaccines on their mammoth spring 2024 UK tour, the alt-country figureheads’ thrilling ascent continues to show no signs of slowing, with both singles from their upcoming extended release (‘Birds’ and ‘Scratch Your Metal’) landing on the BBC 6 Music playlist.
Spearheaded by enigmatic songwriting duo Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, ‘Heady Metal’ signals a closer collaboration than ever between the two bandmates, providing a striking portrayal of insecurity and questioning whether to trust oneself or your new surroundings. The character studies of debut EP ‘Get Mean’ are gone; in their place more vulnerable narratives about grappling with identity amid the new pressures they were experiencing following their phenomenal rise.