FEATURE: Spotlight: Porridge Radio — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: El Hardwick

Porridge Radio

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SINCE the new album from Porridge Radio…

was released last Friday – and has received some wonderful reviews -, it is about time I included them in the Spotlight feature. Although many are new to Porridge Radio, the band themselves are not new on the block. I will include a few interview snatches from the past few months, that shows how this terrific band are growing and why they are so special. Their new album is out in the world, and it is going to be one of 2020’s best – I think Porridge Radio will feature in many end-of-year lists when critics decide their favourite albums. It seems Stereogum were pretty damned keen to pour love on Porridge Radio’s album, Every Bad:

“Across the album, Porridge Radio lean in a bunch of different directions — straight-up indie, dream-pop, heaving ’90s alt-rock, the moodier edges of Britpop. Each single released over the last year found Porridge Radio taking on a slightly new shape, but all of it was strung together by Margolin’s weapons-grade vocal power and the muscular intensity of drummer Sam Yardley, keyboardist Georgie Stott, and bassist Maddie Ryall’s performances. That’s no different when you listen to Every Bad as a whole. Songs flow fluidly and the dramatic arcs of the album proceed gracefully, the entire thing an exercise in writhing angst turned to primal scream release.

Margolin conceived of Every Bad as “an unfinished sentence,” its title a capacious signifier of the strife catalogued across the album but also an invitation for the listener to find solace for whatever their own struggles are. Musically speaking, however, there is nothing out-of-focus about Every Bad. Moving beyond their more lo-fi origins, Porridge Radio have crafted an ambitious, tempestuous album with a grand scope that blows out personal demons into universal trials. Opener “Born Confused” sketches out the approach of many songs on Every Bad: a simmering opening quickly unfolds into waves of emotions, cresting higher each time until finally crashing down and fading out.

While every sound on the album is perfectly executed, the songs themselves are allowed to rise and fall, to push against their confines and break down — like when the off-kilter groove of “Don’t Ask Me Twice” is suddenly ruptured by a seething punk interlude. “Sweet” wastes little time in introducing its violent dynamic shifts, almost forebodingly calm verses lacerated by sudden eruptions of disorted guitar. “Long” builds patiently until boiling over, while “Circling” swirls around itself until reaching a similarly dramatic conclusion. The band pulls back ever so slightly for the wounded reflections of “Nephews” and “Pop Song,” but it’s the ease and infectiousness of “Give/Take” that probably offers the clearest reprieve from a musical standpoint. Mostly, though, these songs twist and roil; they are not so much unfinished sentences as conversations that furiously spin in circles and collapse in on themselves.

It is hard to categorise Porridge Radio in terms of genres and artists who sound the same. That is good I guess, as they have marked themselves out as true originals; a band who are already picking up big reviews for their live sets and look set to grow and dominate – one would not bet against a festival headline slot down the line. Porridge Radio have been getting a lot of buzz lately and, when you look around, there is not another group like them. NME included them in their list of the one-hundred artists to watch this year:

“From: London/Brighton

Sounds like: Gimmick-free indie-rock that’s full of heart and gut-wrenching lyrics.

For fans of: Savages, Dream Wife, The Cure

USP: Nirvana biographer Everett True branded them “the best band in the world” after seeing them play just half a song.

Why you’re going to love them: From the lean and tense pop gem of ‘Give/Take’ to the swelling and celestial mini-epic of ‘Lilac’, Porridge Radio write rock anthems that captures the boredom, frustration, confusion and absurdity of life.

Key track: ‘Give/Take’”.

With a new album out, Porridge Radio will be in demand; go and see them perform if you can. I think they will be included on the bill of a few festivals, as their popularity continues to rise. There are some great interviews out there – many put their lead, Dana Margolin, at the centre. This feature from The Line of Best Fit highlights the fact Porridge Radio have evolved and defined who they are since their formation:

“The quartet have spent much of the last four years working together to hone their craft and racking up a reputation for their electrifying live shows whilst also releasing an extensive array of EPs and singles, with their first album Rice, Pasta and Other Fillers, being released back in 2016 on London-based Memorials of Distinction - a DIY label that the band have had a part in running alongside the label’s founder.

The fact that they have been so consistently prolific has meant that in many ways they are a band that have grown up and developed in real time; publicly defining and refining what it means to be Porridge Radio. It’s meant that their audience have been able to follow they development in minute detail, seeing the creative leaps forward that the band have made year-on-year. “I really like to share everything that I’ve made, because I like showing people part of the creative process and showing people - and the reason I released half of that stuff is that I didn’t really record any of that stuff properly and I really want people to see the development of these songs, because there are a lot of songs where I released one version, then another version, and then another version for the first album that we did”.

Alongside keyboardist Georgie, bass guitarist Maddie and drummer Sam, Porridge Radio are a tight and incredible group of friends who are making music that demands to be heard. There is a lot of focus on where they are now, and the fact that they will storm this year. It is interesting to look back and discover when the band came from. The story of Porridge Radio’s start will resonate with a lot of other bands and musicians. This Loud and Quiet feature sheds some more light:

“After a long run of very fortunate coincidences whilst studying at university, Porridge Radio ended up being the culmination of four very strenuous and bizarre connections between bandmates. Blossoming from Brighton’s DIY scene, they released their first album in 2016. Made from humble beginnings (being recorded on an 8-track in a shed), Rice, Pasta and Other Fillers showcased Dana’s opaquely raw, tangible and completely unconstrained emotion. Always gulping desperately at the air of her final breath, her music not only invested deeply within her herself, but also her audience. She explains: “I’ve always wanted to make music to be vulnerable. I want to allow people to see my vulnerability through the things I make and that is where I’m most honest. I think you should be as emotional as you can be because maybe it will help others access that in themselves which I think for a lot of us is quite a difficult thing to do.”

Not yet signed, it really feels like Porridge Radio might just be on the cusp of something bigger than Dana is yet to realise. But record deals aside, she explains why the DIY scene remains paramount to her band’s evolution. “It’s always going be important because it’s where we came from. People saw us as a shitty band with chaotic songs who couldn’t play our instruments, but they still said, ‘that’s a band who’s going to mean something to people’. Nobody from the music industry saw us and thought that’s a band we should get behind. Only the DIY community said we’ll put you on and help you out. People go out of their way in that scene and don’t expect much in return because they enjoy it and believe in what they’re doing. I’m really grateful to have been a part of that for so long and I will evolve out of it to move to the next level.”

Whatever lies in store for Porridge Radio doesn’t worry Dana too much, but she’s apprehensive to go on blabbing about it. “I watched Sigrid do an interview the other day. She said, ‘I don’t really want to tell people my dreams because what if they don’t come true’. Yeah, I can relate to that”.

I am always drawn to Brighton; not just the place itself, but the music coming out of there. Bands like Porridge Radio and Penelope Isles are offering something distinct and tantalising. Porridge Radio are on their second album, and they have shown real growth. I think extensive touring will further solidify their sound, and it is clear the band are growing more confident with every release. The last interview I want to introduce is from Stereogum last year. Dana Margolin spoke them about the vibe of Brighton; she also discussed the upcoming (at the time) Every Bad:

“If you live in the British coastal town of Brighton, it’s hard not to feel the ever-present draw of the sea, for better or for worse. For Dana Margolin, the pebbly beach and great watery beyond that signal the end of Brighton’s city center became particularly entangled with her life around the time she was making the new album from her band Porridge Radio, Every Bad.

“Swimming in the sea is a way to wash away all the shit,” Margolin says, sitting in a pub in the Camden district of her new home of London. (Her bandmates remain in Brighton.) Constantly repeating how much she adores the album her band has made, Margolin speaks in tones similar to those in which she sings — with vulnerability, openness, and a clear passion. “Whenever I was sad, I’d just go down [to Brighton beach], and stare out, or go for a swim if it wasn’t too windy,” she remembers. “It was a really helpful part of my life. You’re on the edge of everything when you’re at the beach.” The singer goes on to describe the ocean as “terrifying and vast and overwhelming and also really calming and beautiful and fun.” Most, if not all, of these emotions surge through Every Bad.

Though Every Bad is the band’s second album, everything points to it feeling like a debut: It features a few songs dating back to the beginning of the project, and its booming production gives it the feeling of a significant breakthrough after five years of toil. Today, they’ve officially announced the album will arrive on 3/13 via Secretly Canadian. The announcement comes with a new single, “Sweet.” Following superb recent tracks like “Give Take” and “Lilac,” “Sweet” is another leap forward for the band, Margolin’s lyrical adaptability coming to the fore.

IN THIS PHOTO: Porridge Radio photographed at End of the Road 2019 by Rachel Juarez-Carr

“You will like me when you meet me/ You might even fall in love,” she sings over indie rock that swells and retreats like the ever-present sea. You can’t quite work out whether it’s an honest, endearing statement or a slightly creepy one. This intriguing middle ground continues throughout the album, with a lot of second guessing required on the listener’s part. Margolin says she wrote the song trying to imitate Lorde’s nimble, playful “Loveless,” from 2017’s Melodrama — and though musically the pair don’t have too many ties, they both possess a similar emotional dexterity”.

There is a lot to look forward to for Porridge Radio. They have a fresh album, and they will see their diary fill up. Until then, investigate them on social media – the links are at the bottom of this feature – and show their music some love. So many people are excited by Porridge Radio, and it is very clear that they have…