In April 2021, Welsh post-hardcore outfit Holding Absence released their sophomore album, The Greatest Mistake Of My Life, sending them to well-deserved higher spheres, and allowing them to gather an even greater number of fans and followers. Due to the touring situation being all over the place, for the most part, they only managed to tour the record this late October and early November, and this band holding quite a special spot in my heart, off I traipsed to England to see them a few more times.

I first discovered Holding Absence's music in March 2017, when they landed the main support slot on We Are The Ocean's farewell tour, which I attended in its entirety. (Granted, it was only three shows.) Since the first show, at Glasgow's Cathouse, even if I was ill and exhausted, the band's sound stuck with me and, despite a few misses over the years, I managed to catch on a stage a number of times, the last one taking place at Slam Dunk South, this past September. I think that, from the moment I managed to properly see them again after that initial tour, I have decided there would be no way in hell I would miss shows I could attend again and, from the weird sort-of-post-pandemic-but-not-really limbo we find ourselves currently stuck in, I stand by the thought.
I just don't want to miss Holding Absence again.

All three shows I attended (Newcastle, Manchester, and London) started with High Wycombe's As Everything Unfolds, undoubtedly the greatest thing to have ever come out of this town. (Which is, coincidentally, where I saw them for the first time.) They, too, finally get to tour their debut album, the excellent Within Each Lies The Other, released in March 2021. Despite them still being a quite young band, they have plenty of followers all three nights, and singalongs can be heard at every show. I might have even spotted a moshpit situation at the Electric Ballroom. As Everything Unfolds are exactly as I remember them, fantastic on a stage, and they so easily hold the audience in the palm of their hand, night after night. It is going to be beyond exciting to watch them leap from milestone to milestone, and I can't wait to be along for the ride.
(As Everything Unfolds will be performing Within Each Lies The Other in its entirety at the Camden Assembly on the 25th of February 2022, and a good chunk of the tickets are gone. In March of next year, they will also appear on the European leg of Holding Absence's tour. Give them a listen here - Grayscale is a banger.)

Hailing straight from Sydney, Australia, Yours Truly are a little miracle during a rainy, cold week. In all honesty, I only believed they were on my side of the world when I saw them in front of me, on stage, even though it was all a bit silly, and they had been in the United Kingdom for over a week at this point. I first discovered the Australians when they supported State Champs in the summer of 2019, saw them again on a happy accident at Chicago's Riot Fest, and their debut album Self Care was one of my favourites last year. I have lived with this record for so long that it was almost surreal hearing it in the flesh, played live, and I still can't quite compute it. (Even though I still haven't heard Undersize. Next time.) The audience reaction was different all three nights. Newcastle offered quiet but invested singalongs. Manchester saw louder singing and a little more dancing. London was a straight-up riot, and I managed to crowdsurf twice. On stage, all I see is a band eager to conquer the world, a band I want to see doing just that. Their older tracks, such as Circles and High Hopes (both from their 2019 EP Afterglow), are known by quite a few people and could easily become pop-punk classics. They have mastered the "devastating lyrics set to an infectious tune" vibe in songs like Funeral Home or Together, and their latest single, Walk Over My Grave, full of angst and heaviness, shows they could be heading in any direction from now on. Frontwoman Mikaila Delgado's charisma is to be commended, she is simply captivating. Full disclaimer: Yours Truly were the main reason I crossed the Channel for these shows, and I am ecstatic I did. It was not something to be missed.
(Yours Truly are coming back to our shores in April and May as main support on Against The Current's headline tour. They have also been announced at High Five Summer Fest, a cool alternative weekender in Stockholm, Sweden, in July. Check them out here, and read the Self Care review here.)

As mentioned earlier, Holding Absence are finally touring off the back of their sophomore album, the perfect The Greatest Mistake Of My Life, and it's only natural that they start these shows with its first three tracks: instrumental opener Alive, Celebration Song, and Curse Me With Your Kiss. There is something undeniably life-affirming about the first words one sings, screams, belts out, whatever, being "I'm alive" with all your soul and all your heart.
And I guess it's how I always feel seeing Holding Absence live.

One of the reasons why I hold their Scala show, in December 2019, so dear in my raging emo heart is that at the time, I was feeling beyond broken. I was approximately ten days into my sick leave, having to hide everything I was doing outside of my tiny flat because "I literally cannot face being polite and cheery for four thousand people every day, and I'm mentally exhausted of having so much demanded of me with no reward" does not mix well with "actually, live music helps me feel better and stops the brain pain and existential dread for an hour" from an HR and managerial standpoint. I simply was not well at all. That night, I met up with my friend Mia, who had flown from Milan, Italy for the show, and we met up with some other friends of mine in the line. I remember, at some point, opening the door between the main room of the maze that the Scala is and the bar area and finding another two of my friends on the other side, not knowing they were going to be there. Being surrounded by people who loved and cared about me took this show from "this band I love is playing a discography I love just as much in full" to "I am with people who make my heart feel lighter" territory. The two combined made the experience extra special. 

Since then, I have somewhat always associated Holding Absence's live shows and music in general as a place where I feel safe and loved, and nothing could have made this sensation more tangible than starting a show screaming the words "I'm alive" with a grin that could not be wiped off my face.
Outside of my ramblings and emotions, let's be real and honest for a minute here.
Holding Absence is one hell of a live band. I remember the first times I saw them, knowing in my heart of hearts that they were something special. Almost five years down the line (Christ), their shows have that something fully realised. It's a feeling I can't quite put into words, but they are the kind of band that offers something from everyone, wherever you find yourself in life, and maybe it's just a lot of heart, and everyone can relate to that, but...Yeah. There has to be a word, somewhere, in any language, really, that puts this comforting, hearty feeling into words, that something special, that explains why Holding Absence have become as beloved as they are and why they seem to be growing and becoming even more appreciated as time goes on.

It could very well be because they are nothing short of a fantastic band, and their music hits the spot every time.
Music-wise, they can do it all. Within the little, poetic, beautiful world they have created for themselves, a world that could head in any direction, they know how to do everything. They know how to do the raw emotion. They know how to do the straight-up bangers that you just can tell are going to become classics, Emo Night crowd-pleasers and all, in five or ten years' time (Christ, the sequel.) They know how to do the heaviness- nomoreroses sees quite the intense moshpits every night. And they know how to lean into something softer and more vulnerable. Maybe it ties prettily with the idea that there is something for everyone in their music.

Every band seems to have a longer song that seeps into everyone's heart and grows to become a fan favourite against all odds. Jimmy Eat World have 23 and Goodbye Sky Harbor. The Wonder Years have I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral. Taylor Swift's ten-minute version of All Too Well is currently topping the charts. There is always one.
Holding Absence has Wilt.
The six-minute-and-a-half-long song, a heartbreaking tale of a love ending, has become immensely popular despite its length, as is acknowledged in London, I believe, by frontman Lucas Woodland. It starts heavy and sees the usual moshing and crowdsurfing, and ends with "little people," Woodland's words again, carried on people's shoulders for a beautiful few minutes. See, I love being carried on people's shoulders at shows, but as someone who often attends alone and is generally plagued by social awkwardness, it's hard for me to just ask. It took me until London to get there, but it was a hundred percent worth it. I don't know what it is about being perched on someone's shoulders at a show, seeing the crowd and the stage from up above, a somewhat more intense feeling of communion and connection to others, but it gets me every time.
In the future, I do hope Holding Absence save a special spot for Wilt at every show, not just because it's my favourite song, but so we can all feel this way again, find comfort and company in the middle of an all-too-relatable track.

If there is one word I regularly use to describe a Holding Absence live experience, it's safe. I feel safe in their crowds, and I feel safe among the people around me, even after a drunk person tries to crowdsurf, rolls back, and slams their leg on my head (Manchester), even after I get a bike-shaped bruise (London.) It's not about the usual crowd movement that happens at heavy shows. It's about the people. I always feel among friends, whether I know someone in the room or not. The feeling was heightened by actually making friends at the end of the London show, and I hope I get to feel this way at every Holding Absence show to come. Nothing compares to ending the night with a heart so full. 

(Holding Absence are playing Exeter and Bexhill, of all places in the world, alongside Enter Shikari in November. They are also supporting Funeral For A Friend in January (how huge!) and touring the European Union in March 2022. This goes without saying, but check them out here.)

A few days ago, I expressed an opinion that could potentially be seen as controversial: I find current UK-only line-ups to be somewhat underwhelming and lacking in variety. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction, but it seems I only see two or three bands in the list of supports, as if no one was making an effort to dive into the pool of all the music the UK has to offer to take their pick. See, I understand times are hard. I have not lived under a rock for the past eighteen months or so, and I am aware of how irrevocably the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the music industry. I also suspect, just like many others, that the United Kingdom going forward with Brexit, come hell or high water, is going to have disastrous consequences on cultural events. Finally, I imagine that not every smaller artist can afford to go on tour at the minute.
That being said, more can definitely be done. I remember the early 2010s in the United Kingdom, when a lot of day festivals offered similar line-ups, and when bands often toured together and traded supports, but it still felt like there was more variety in the musical landscape. It never felt like a bunch of big bands, and a tiny pool of support acts. I would have never jumped on so many Megabuses if I had grown bored with the music the other side of the Channel was offering.
Because I do not like to throw controversial opinions on an industry I deeply care about without anything to back up my claims, here is a list of ten bands and artists hailing from the United Kingdom. Some have already been included in cool line-ups, some are all brand new and starting out, all should be thought about more in some not too distant future. 

After Reason

Disclaimer: I decided to write this list in alphabetical order, and it just so happens the first band has two of my good friends on its line-up. Simple coincidence. That being said, the reason I am recommending After Reason to everyone is not just because I will forever remain the untalented friend standing on the side of every room, but because their post-hardcore sound truly works for me. I remember spinning their first single, Hollow, released in September 2020, something like a million times, and it definitely was one of my favourite songs of the past year. In 2021, After Reason released a banging debut EP, Life Outside Your Head, giving me all the Alexisonfire vibes I could possibly want from music, and they are set to play a release show at the Pipeline, in Brighton, on the 20th of August.

As Everything Unfolds

I discovered As Everything Unfolds in a small venue, somewhere in High Wycombe, wherever in the world that actually was, and their post-hardcore sound has stuck with me pretty much immediately. I remember watching them again at Torquay's excellent Burn It Down Festival, in 2019, and following every release since. Every song they have is, quite simply put, in unpoetic terms, catchy as hell, with the potential to become an anthem you want to sing along to. The band's debut album, Within Each Lies The Other, came out this year, and they have recently been announced as main support on Holding Absence's upcoming European tour, in March 2022. (Do we have to call them European Union tours now?) I am so ridiculously excited about it.

Bleak Soul

For me, these past two years have been a time to learn how to broaden my musical horizons, which has meant paying attention to side-projects and solo ventures just outside of the borders of my favourite bands. This is how I found myself checking out Bleak Soul, a musical adventure started by Ben Langford-Biss, founding member and ex-guitarist and vocalist in As It Is. There are two impressive releases for the world to dive into: Existential Meditation, released last year, a debut album full of songs focusing majorly on mental health situations, as well as a bunch of singles in 2021, which caught my attention first. Sound-wise, I undoubtedly hear nineties influences, on the grungier side of the spectrum, mid-2000s emo, which I was always bound to love, and a sometimes ambient vibe. It feels like every song has its own, particular atmosphere, as if Bleak Soul's music could steer in any direction, even the one you don't expect it to-and I dig that a lot.

Decay

This is one of those: I literally have no idea how or where I found Decay, but now I have, I am here to stay, long haul and all. The four-piece's debut album, Staring At The Sun, landed in the list of my favourite music from 2020, and I think what I had to say at the time still sums up my feelings pretty well: "Every time I think nothing from the old island can surprise me anymore, someone comes along and punches me in the face. This year, it was Decay." I don't like comparing bands to each other, but if I had to, only because I am tragic at putting genre names on sound and "melodic post-hardcore" could mean different things to different people, I would describe Decay as the slightly heavier lovechild of Basement and pre-GLUE Boston Manor. They have been one of my favourite new bands last year, and I am super excited to follow what they'll be doing in the future.

Delaire The Liar

Delaire The Liar is a band whose unique name I would see everywhere on my social media for the longest time, and I ended up checking them out for the first time during the Taste Of Isolation livestream last year, when they performed a Paramore cover set. (A mutual love of Paramore's perfection might be a foolproof way into my heart.) I guess, if you want to be technical about it, Delaire The Liar falls under some sort of post-hardcore umbrella, but their vocals are wildly different from most other bands, and they are what drew me in. They have recently signed to Rude Records (which features amazing bands such as All Get Out, Young Culture, or Blood Youth on their roster) and are set to go on tour alongside Scotland's very own Vukovi later this year. Delaire The Liar's newest single, HALLOWEEN, is available everywhere and, in unpretty and straightforward terms, it is one hell of a banger.

Don't Worry

From 2016 to the end of 2019, watching my good friends in Evertim play, virtually, every venue in Brighton and around London has introduced me to plenty of amazing, lesser-known bands from the United Kingdom, bands I would have never come across otherwise, and Don't Worry are one of those, definitely the one I have followed the longest. An indie rock band from Essex, Don't Worry has something I love with every part of my raging emo heart- honest and emotional songwriting I can easily find myself in, the perfect blend of personal, mundane, and relatable in their words. Their songs have a similar energy to bands such as Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms- you want to sing along in the crowd, happy and somewhat relieved everyone around you feels the same about the lyrics. I haven't seen Don't Worry live since Sticky Mike's in November 2016, there were quite a few misses and failed attempts, and I really hope I can fix it all in the future. 

InVisions

I have honestly no idea where I even found InVisions and how I came across their music. After that, I remember seeing a guy wear one of their windbreakers at a While She Sleeps show, then, seeing an ad for their merch line on my social media, recognising the windbreaker, and, since then, it seems they have been everywhere around me. (The windbreaker too.) If you like the melt-your-face type of heavy metalcore, InVisions is just the band for you. Real talk here: I have thoroughly enjoyed watching all my favourite heavy bands reach new heights in their careers and explore new sounds, often more electronic, but sometimes, all I want is to risk my life in a moshpit, choruses for days, and nasty breakdowns, and InVisions gives me all of that. They were one of many shows I had planned pre-pandemic, but never happened- until next time. The band has released a huge single, Gold Blooded, in May 2020, and they have also announced that their third album was mixed and mastered, so it shouldn't be too long until we get brand new material.

Lizzy Farrall

Lizzy Farrall might be the best-known artist on this list and, if you attend shows of the alternative variety in the United Kingdom or in Europe, you might have seen her play alongside bands such as Tiny Moving Parts, Can't Swim, labelmates The Story So Far, and Seaway. This is how I originally heard about her, but I fully jumped on board with her alternative-pop sound when she released her debut album in 2020, the excellent Bruise. What I truly love about Lizzy Farrall's artistry is that it comes accompanied by an entire package, and if you know my pop music sensitivities, you know how much I love it when sound comes with an aesthetic and a complete atmosphere. Listening to Bruise or Lizzy's music in general feels like entering someone else's corner of the universe, and I appreciate that a lot. (And Vincent Van Gogh references will never be lost on me.) She's announced as support on Set It Off's 2022 tour, and it should be a fantastic time.

Maypine

Just like Don't Worry and As Everything Unfolds, the reason why I have discovered the existence of Maypine was a show alongside Evertim in Guildford, in May 2018 and, believe me, trying to find that show on Facebook again was like sifting through a long list of misses and failed attempts. (There was sadly no amount of running down the road outside of Brighton's train station that could have got me to Sticky Mike's on time when they supported As It Is and Roam in December 2019.) Doing this, I am noticing that a lot of the music I tend to recommend is on the heavier side of the spectrum, as I guess you could also file Maypine under some sort of post-hardcore umbrella. The band's two latest songs, Repair/Replace and Roosevelt, both showcasing brilliant musicianship and anthemic qualities, were released in 2019, and they are playing Sometimes Fest in Eastbourne this weekend. Hopefully, this leads us to new music and more shows- fixing the failed attempts is overdue on my end.

Shaded

I remember seeing Shaded support Australian pop-punks Stand Atlantic in London, back in April 2019, but they truly caught my attention after one of my friends asked me to embroider her a tote bag with some of their lyrics. I don't like jumping into creative projects without knowing the songs, so I listened to their 2018 EP, A Familiar Love, and went from there. Their catchy kooks, their pop feel mixed with fun punk sounds and high energy got me on board, and they should most definitely appear on more pop-punk leaning line ups in future tours. They have released two EPs, _001 and _002, in 2020 and 2021, that see them explore new sounds and different influences, as well as a new single, My Nightmare, all soft, lovely, and acoustic, last week.

Obviously, I am aware that the United Kingdom has a lot more to offer than just ten artists- these are just a few that caught my attention and that I wanted to speak about. Don't hesitate to recommend me more- I'm always down to broaden my musical horizons, and maybe we can do one of those with a different list in the future!