Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her reviews of new music with singles from CHROMA Bombs Away and Man/Woman/Chainsaw The Boss
Artist: CHROMA
Track: Bombs Away
Pontypridd, Wales bi-lingual alt-rock trio CHROMA have released their new single Bombs Away via Alcopop! Records. It's the latest to be taken from the band’s debut album Ask For Angela, recently shortlisted for the Welsh Music Prize 2024 alongside Angharad, Gruff Rhys, Skindred and more.
Fast and furious, and then faster still, it's a thunderous track which is a complete blast from the opening note to the very last second. Indeed the end comes too fast.
Commenting on the single, vocalist Katie Hall said: “Since I saw My Chemical Romance in Cardiff CIA as a 14 year old kid, I’ve always wanted to write a song for teenage girls to mosh to. Bombs Away is that song. I love going to gigs and I feel like my time getting pushed around in the pit made me fall in love with heavier music. Bombs Away at its core is a breakup song. It’s about that moment you begin to see the wood for the trees, with someone you’re seeing. It’s that moment you realise someone’s taken advantage of your kindness and you’re just fuming. Bombs Away is that anger and then moving on.”
Following a huge support slot with Foo Fighters earlier this summer, the trio support Newport comedy hip hop troupe Goldie Lookin Chain on their forthcoming 2024 headline dates later this year.
Riding high on a run of packed shows at SXSW Festival, FOCUS Wales, and a support slot with The Mysterines, the band announced their signing to Alcopop! Records in early 2023 and were recently hand-picked to support legendary US rockers Foo Fighters at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester alongside Courtney Barnett. The trio were recently announced as one of the latest patrons of the Music Venue Trust, and will support the work of the charity in sharing the importance of Grassroots Music Venues and their crucial role in the music industry's ecosystem.
CHROMA Live Dates
SOLD OUT - NORWICH - Epic Studios *
SOLD OUT - BIRMINGHAM - Hare & Hounds *
08 Oct - CARDIFF - Wales Millennium Centre (Welsh Music Prize 2024)
11 Oct - MANCHESTER - Castle Hotel, Beyond The Music
12 Oct - ABERYSTWYTH - Harleys
SOLD OUT - NOTTINGHAM - Metronome *
SOLD OUT - NEWCASTLE - The Cluny *
SOLD OUT - GLOUCESTER - Guildhall *
SOLD OUT - BRISTOL - SWX *
SOLD OUT - NARBERTH - Queens Hall *
SOLD OUT - BIRMINGHAM - Hare & Hounds *
SOLD OUT - NARBERTH - Queens Hall *
SOLD OUT - SWANSEA - Sin City *
16 Nov - LONDON - Electric Ballroom *
SOLD OUT - BIRKENHEAD - Future Yard *
SOLD OUT - NEWPORT - Corn Exchange *
SOLD OUT - NEWPORT - Corn Exchange *
* w/ Goldie Lookin Chain
* * *
Artist: Man/Woman/Chainsaw
Track: The Boss
London-based Man/Woman/Chainsaw share new single The Boss, a song driven ever forward by its looping, propulsive violin and synth riff. It's the third track to be released from their debut EP, Eazy Peazy, landing 8 November via Fat Possum.
It's difficult to predict just what is going to be heard on a Man/Woman/Chainsaw single, and therein lies their beauty. Unpredictable and off kilter the pace and atmospheres varies, and so it is on The Boss. An angry and urgent delivery is punctuated by violin and synth sections, which head off into a chaotic meander in the outro.
The band had the following to say about their new single: "The Boss is the heaviest of the songs on the EP and definitely a live favourite of ours. We wanted to express our frustration with imbalanced power dynamics in our everyday lives with a big supermassive rant of a rock song. In the writing process it began as a more standard punk tune until Emmie and Clio spontaneously improvised their interlocking violin/synth line that totally changed the direction of the song. Working in the studio with Dan Fox of Gilla Band was fun and allowed us to experiment with getting the song to sound as spacey as we could get it - we particularly enjoyed recording the electric violin through guitar amps cranked to 10 while simultaneously manipulating a tape delay unit."
The group have a busy touring schedule ahead of them, including a Halloween headliner at London's 100 Club and have announced a full UK headline tour for February 2025.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw UK/EU tour dates
October
16/10 – Paris, Supersonic
17/10 – Rotterdam, Left of the Dial Festival
18/10 – Rotterdam, Left of the Dial Festival
31/10 - London, 100 Club
November
1 – Hebden Bridge, The Trades Club #
7 – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
8 – Bristol, Rough Trade
9 - Brighton, Mutations Festival
2025
January
3/01 – Bognor Regis, Rockaway Beach
February
14 – Where Else, Margate
15 – The Joiners, Southampton
16 – The Cornish Bank, Falmouth
17 – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
19 – The Bodega, Nottingham
20 – YES, Manchester
21 – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
22 – The Crescent, York
# with Dream Wife
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