1 Girli
She may look as if she’s just raided a branch of Tammy Girl, blindfolded, in 1997, but 19-year-old Milly Toomey’s in-yer-face output is about as zeitgeisty as it gets. A bit like if Jamie T joined the Spice Girls, she combines a (more enlightened) girl-power sentiment with Europop production, half-rapped lyrics and shambling indie pacing. Look past the obnoxiousness and a breath of fresh air awaits.
Glasgow, 21 May; London, 23 May; Birmingham, 24 May; Nottingham, 26 May
2 Stefflon Don
With her dancehall inflections and riotously savage lyrics, Birmingham-born Stephanie Allen looks set to become British rap’s first bona fide female star since Ms Dynamite. Catch her at this intimate show before she moves on to far bigger things.
Wagner Hall, Brighton, 20 May
3 John Cale
Velvet Underground man Cale has chosen Liverpool as the site of his only European show celebrating the 50th birthday of The Velvet Underground & Nico – the musician and his friends will perform the seminal Andy Warhol-produced album in its entirety. Brace yourself for the shock of the old when it comes to the still-mind-boggling likes of Venus in Furs and All Tomorrow’s Parties.
Clarence Dock, Liverpool, 26 May
4 Aldous Harding
Harding’s voice – with its erratic pitch and lazily eccentric phrasing – just happens to nod in the direction of Nico, but the New Zealander favours elegant and eerie indie-folk over the art-rock of her sonic antecedent.
London, 22 May; Manchester, 24 May; Glasgow, 25 May
5 Rhythm Method
Two lads from London singing sentimentally about house parties, suburbia and a creeping sense of alienation, Rhythm Method take the amusing and emotional new wave of Squeeze and Madness and repurpose it for a new generation. Funny, intelligent and pop-minded, they are everything that’s been missing from indie music this decade.
Komedia, Brighton, 20 May
