The Wrap: July 2021 ☀️

we’re stoked to be bringing our July edition of The Wrap ✨ some absolutelyy amazing music and videos on this one – and we’re even including a few gigs that we’re super excited about! great stuff ☀️ it’s beautiful to see everything reopening, with so much going on, both live and in the studio! scroll down for our in-depth reviews 🤘


Cumbrian singer-songwriter NAT DEMPSEY is back with his brand new single “Heresy”! Blending 90s alternative atmospheres with hard-hitting lyrics – a real anthem for the lost youth of today. Nat’s songwriting ability is extremely visual in this one, with a lovely guitar riff throughout and defining backbeat from the drums and basslines; it’s definitely one to blast out on a rainy day here in Manchester. [SPOTIFY]


Local promoter The Rookery Collective are back with some absolutely fantastic gigs over this coming few weeks – starting off up in Newcastle with a jam session and a set from KAHUNA, and then heading down to Lock 91 here in Manchester with a fantastic lineup of some of our favourite artists, Charlotte H. Lawrence, Harriet Dagnall and our very own Olivia Browse. Surely one to check out! [FACEBOOK EVENT]


Local psychedelic punks Mort Jardin are back with their brand new EP “Slow”! 22 minutes of luscious and dreamy guitar work, the songs will surely bring you into Mort Jardin’s world and entrance your senses for the duration of the EP. Definitely an EP to blast late at night, after a few whiskeys, allowing you to take in the full soundscape of their latest release. [SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE]


Our friends over in Liverpool Down To Earth Promotions are going to be putting on a fantastic gig at The Quarry with a headline set from one of our favourites Tay Temple 🪐 playing with her full band, this is sure to be a boss one. If you’ve not caught Tay before, you’re missing out! With support from Evie Moran and Tom Brooks, it looks fantastic. 😊 we’ll be down there after our gig that day! (Tickets £6+booking fee) [FACEBOOK EVENT]


Manchester-based Americana singer-songwriter Izzie Walsh is back with yet another fantastic tune! Reminiscent of a Northern Stevie Nicks or Patsy Cline, Izzie’s new song is an honest reflection of the fame and fortune that music can bring. ✊ For fans of Faye Webster, Angel Olsen and Lana Del Ray – Izzie has been releasing tune after tune and we’re absolutely made up to be able to hear this song in it full glory. ☀️ what a voice, and such a unique style! [SPOTIFY]


The supremely fantastic Gen and the Degenerates have released their second single, “Runaway Blues”! 🤘 with a fantastic jazzy and bluesy backbeat, Gen powers over it all with an absolutely fantastic and strong vocal, and with a chorus line of “I love you, but I love rock and roll more” this is surely one of the most anthemic punk songs of 2021. Hugely ones to keep an eye on, and the video is absolutely iconic! 💫 [SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE]


Warrington-based indie rockers The A.V. Club are back with yet another brilliant song, ‘Movie Screens’! A real singalong tune, with absolutley lovely vocal skills from the band and guitar riffs that are just bloody lush as anything. 🎸 yet another fantastic tune from them! Also, we absolutely love the video. Such a tongue in cheek laugh hahaha. Well worth a watch! [SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE]


I mean, we have to hype about our own gigs too?! We’re absolutely STOKED to be back down at The Thirsty Scholar this coming Saturday with a fantastic lineup of musicians including Minerva Daisy, Olivia Browse, Dr Fabola, Tom J Johnson, Scatterchild and michael webster. 💫 it’s our first proper gig back and man we can NOT WAIT! Running throughout the afternoon, 1-5pm. It’s all free entry and also you’ll have time to head down to the Down To Earth Promotions gig we mentioned before in Liverpool! Let’s get this! [FACEBOOK EVENT]


Man! There’s so much going on and it’s fantastic to see that all these gigs are going on safely and making a proper return. Things are looking up again! So many releases and we’ve still barely scratched the surface. Head down to a gig, support your scene, and keep music going! 🍞 we love writing up these ones! ☀️ all music, videos and images remain copyright of their respective owners!

The nineteenth episode of Grain Radio is out next week! 💿

we’ve got our next episode of Grain Radio lined up for you – out next Wednesday!! ☀️

there’s some absolutely incredible music on this one. it’s a pleasure to make these up and show you so much talent here in the North West and beyond! 🤘 with all these gigs and features, we are constantly doing music here now 😅

head on over to our website at www.breadrecords.co.uk to find all of our features, upcoming gigs, music, merch, and even more! 🍞

Cream of the Crop: Tom J Johnson *updated lineup!*

sadly due to unforeseen circumstances we’ve had to alter the lineup for this Saturday’s event Cream of the Crop: THE RETURN! – but not to worry we have the amazing Tom J Johnson performing for us! 🤘

Tom is a singer-songwriter based here in Manchester, performing his originals and covers – we love his energetic performances, with beautiful guitarwork and just all round great energy! ✊ we can’t wait to catch a full set from him!

we’re still going ahead as per usual with Minervadaisy Scatterchild Dr Fabola Olivia Browse and michael webster so it’s sure to be an absolutely fantastic event! 1-5pm, Saturday 7th August (free entry!!!) 🍞

(ps, there’s a very limited amount of tickets available for Tay Temple‘s headline gig in Liverpool afterwards with Down To Earth Promotions – featuring Evie Moran and Tom Brooks!!! get on that, we’re going down!) 🥰

📸: Marc Gallagher

New music callout! ☀️

just a reminder to all you creatives, musicians, bands and artists – we’re always on the lookout for new music to feature! ☀️

we do plenty of features which we have in full on our website at www.breadrecords.co.uk/features – head over and have a lil gander! 🤘 we’re also going to be looking for artists for gigs real soon too!

so much music is coming out that we can’t keep up with every release but we LOVE covering talent up here in the North West. 😊 drop us an email at michael@breadrecords.co.uk if you’ve got anything for us! 🍞

10k streams on “A Good Winter in June”! 🤘

we are SO HAPPY to say that Anyone’s Ghost EP “A Good Winter in June” has just passed 10k streams! ☀️💫☀️

we’re so bloomin’ proud of this EP and the support you guys have shown it is simply tremendous. for a lil release on an indie label to hit this kind of level of streams is fantastic! 🥰 thank you all so much for listening to it, buying our merch, and saying such lovely kind words about it all. how incredible!

if you’re new to the party, you can find it over on our Bandcamp where you can even purchase a cute lil tape cassette of it: www.breadrecords.bandcamp.com or stream it over on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/album/72I9qwkMbEV13BA2Jvw5Gu 🍞

📸: Olivia Browse

Open mic at The Grafton Arms☀️

we had SUCH an amazing time for our first open mic down at The Grafton Arms on Tuesday – around 12 artists played, including a 12-person band, a trio, and plenty of fantastic solo artists 🤘

we’re so made up with how it went, a full pub, punters having a great time.. it’s all coming back in force isn’t it!?!? 😊 a big thank you to everyone for making it so great!!!

just a reminder here that we’re down there every Tuesday from 7pm with some of Manchester’s finest up-and-coming artists, there’s already some amazing musicians confirmed for next week, and walk-in slots available too!! 🪐

drop michael webster a message for a slot, or find out more at our event Open Mic at The Grafton Arms!! 🍞

Local Loaf update! ☀️

another Sunday so another lovely update to our Local Loaf playlist! 😎

featuring new music from The Battery Farm Harry Heart LELO The France and Scott Magnus! 🤘 some absolutely fantastic tunes added this week, always something for everyone in this huge old playlist. 😊 pop it on before the football and have yourself a lil look at some of the best local music!

head over to Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5FnabVHuYeT9Yp2s7GjeKY to find the playlist in full – give it a follow to keep up to date! 🍞

THE WRAP: June 2021 💫☀️

here’s our second instalment of our BRAND NEW FEATURE: The Wrap 🪐 our last one in May was a proper lovely one and we’ve got EVEN more amazing music and videos here for you to check out!!

this is mostly compromised up of artists’ music that we weren’t able to cover during the last month – but nevertheless still definitely worth a shout out! 😊 so much going on now that things are reopening, a fantastic time for underground and grassroots music! 🤘


Class new tune from Pizza Crunch, “Celexa”! Love the aggressiveness of that distortion, and a lovely chorus line to go too. For fans of 90’s alternative / punk, big riffs, driving basslines and punchy drums. Boss! [Spotify] [Released by Disobedient Records]


IORA‘s new tune “Find Me” is a lovely electronic exploration into IORA’s sound. With a mesmerising video, and lush synthesisers throughout, definitely one to be blasting from your rooftops. Brilliant catchy chorus – huge vibes from this. Loving the backing vocals and harmonies too, especially in the bridge! [Spotify / YouTube]


Absolutely GORGEOUS track from Manchester-based producer, songwriter and artist SZOU. Love the entire vibe of this – a positive, uplifting pop/electronica tune with some absolutely lovely instrumentation, production and just an entire flex of SZOU’s ability for crafting music. Hugely one to watch! [Spotify] [Released by No Such Thing Records]


Found this one from a recommended video and it REALLY stood out to me. Such a lovely laid-back atmosphere to the track, with a beautiful guitar progression, and slowly building to just a fantastic jazz-inspired ballad of self-expression and focus. Perfect for accompaniment with your morning coffee 🥪 and also, the video perfectly fits the track. Fantastic stuff from Rhona Stevens! [Spotify / YouTube]


Lovely new EP from Blacksheeplad, a regular on our lil virtual open mic (fondly remembered 💔) it’s fantastic to hear all of these songs in studio format now, after hearing the progression of them live – plus, with his full band now, Phil really has been able to come into his own as an artist and expand his sound. Definitely worth a listen! [Spotify]


Lovely lovely tune from Glaswegian punks Book Klub – proper dirty, proper post-punk and proper class video accompanying the tune. Love the moody vibe of the track, and suddenly it erupts into the chorus and throws so much at you – only to drop back into reverby goodness of guitar resonance. Keep an eye out for these guys, they’re definitely gonna be packing out some dirty basement venues soon and we can not wait. 🍻 [Spotify / YouTube] [Released by Disobedient Records]


Lovely acoustic tune from Yorkshire-based songwriter Eli Rivers. A reflective song, with some lovely image-inducing songwriting and a lovely guitar line that simply adds a great flavour to the track. With a great video to go alongside it, this is essential listening for any folk and singer-songwriter fans in the North. Eli played our last virtual open mic and smashed it, too! [Spotify / YouTube]


Fantastic tune from North West-based indie outfit MCRAE! A huge tune, with massive vocals, lovely guitar tones, a simply fantastically well-crafted song that these lads will be absolutely made up with. Also, with a bloody fantastic break in it – a beautiful guitar line, with demanding and powerful lyrics, building up and up until a conclusive ending. Keep your eyes peeled for these lads, going to be making waves ✊ [Spotify / Video on FB]


Some ABSOLUTELY incredible tunes out this month, and realistically, we’ve barely even scratched the surface here. There’s so much to find, and with gigs coming back now – you’re sure that there’ll be even more on the way! Fantastic stuff. Love writing up these ones! ☀️ all music, videos and images remain copyright of their respective owners!

Final virtual open mic!

it’s going to be our final virtual open mic over in Bread Social this coming Thursday! 🤘 as always, hosted by our very own michael webster! don’t worry, it’s still Turtleneck Thursday…

we’ve had a lovely time over the past year hosting these, they’re been such a lush way for musicians to keep performing through lockdown but alas it must come to an end as next Tuesday (A WEEK TODAY!) we have our first open mic at the Grafton Arms ☀️

we can’t wait for this one, it’ll be weekly Tuesdays – find out more at Open Mic at The Grafton Arms!! 😊 there’ll be plenty of walk in slots, cheap and quality pints, food available to order and it’s all coming together nicely!

photo taken here by the fabulous Farrow Films & Photos at Royal Oak, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy (capturing our michael mid-angry strum) 🍞

Just The Crust 05/07/21: Cold Water Swimmers – Holiday at The Secret Lake ☀️

our feature for today’s Just The Crust is the brand new ALBUM from Cold Water Swimmers “Holiday at the Secret Lake”!! 🤘

with an unmistakably Northern sound, the Manchester outfit have released some fantastic singles over the past year or two and are back now with their first full-length release! 🪐 “Holiday at the Secret Lake” is chock-full of lovely tunes, reminiscent of 90s alternative indie mixed in with some lovely songwriting, and punkier elements which really give Cold Water Swimmers a unique yet familiar sound – definitely ones to watch here!! ☀️

must listens: Love is Insane / I’ll Be Your Witness – real brit-pop vibes with some top choruses you’ll be singing on your way home from the pub. 🤘 the whole album as a whole is fantastic though – definitely worth listening to on this overcast Manchester Monday 🐝

head on over to Bandcamp at https://coldwaterswimmers.bandcamp.com/album/holiday-at-the-secret-lake to find the album, with a limited edition 12″ vinyl available too!! 😊 it’s also available on all streaming sites!!

find all of our features over at www.breadrecords.co.uk 🍞