DEADLETTER release their debut EP Heat! via SO Recordings, containing singles ‘Binge’, ‘Weights’, and ‘Madge’s Declaration’.
Heat! is the sound of a band starting to find their feet in the studio. Recorded at Hackney’s Pony Studios with producer Elliot Heinrich, there is a notable evolution from their looser, politically-charged early singles, coming as the group matures both sonically and conceptually.
Hailing from Yorkshire, now South London rooted, they channel the droll fury of Gang of Four and the lopsided rhythms of Talking Heads into a strain of vehement post-punk, exploring the darker side of existence through a lens of narrative-driven levity. With members being firm friends from birth, there is an instinctive understanding of movement and danceability to their music worth its weight in gold, whilst never cheapening the nuance and grit of their sound.
Childhood friends Zac Lawrence (vocals), Alfie Husband (Drums) and George Ullyott (Bass) graduated from busking around Yorkshire town centres in their early teens, and moved down into a shared house in South London – prompting the necessity, and allowing them the space to develop their own personal antithesis to the grind of daily life.
After some lineup experimentation, the addition of Will King (Guitar), Sam Jones (Guitar) and Poppy Richler (Saxophone) completed the group. Bound together by a recognition of frenetic energy and rhythm and leaving any wider ideological goal open to interpretation by the listener, DEADLETTER have toured relentlessly throughout 2022, fostering a reputation as one of the most exciting bands in the UK in the process. With support slots including dates with Do Nothing, Tropical F**k Storm, Yard Act, and Placebo, they are still clearly not a group to be missed live.
Already they have been championed by multiple radio stations and the 6 piece even took to Paris Fashion Week, attending the CELINE menswear S/S 23 launch and playing live at Hedi Slimane’s personal afterparty alongside NYC’s Gustaf and Cumgirl8.
They’ve just finished an EU Arena tour with Placebo, before they open for them at Brixton’s O2 Academy later in the month. They’ll headline The Lexington as part of BBC Introducing, with a date at Paper Dress Vintage, and have been announced to perform at Dark Arts Festival in Leeds next year.
Heat! suggests DEADLETTER are more than just another post-punk band, but maybe have a scope wider than any could have first predicted.
