With it’s sleazy narcotic glam rock vibes, ‘Dinosaur (It’s Not The 80’s)’ is a satirical glance at a short-lived relationship with someone who refuses to grow up and change. Symbolic for the kind of retrotopian thinking that holds culture back in a broader sense, 10 O’ Clock Chemical’s song saunters in with a cocksure and flamboyant swagger as the group examine the minutiae of  human relationships, and what they say about humanity in general.

10 O’Clock Chemical is the creative vision of songwriter, vocalist and multi instrumentalist Rhys Oakes, who started writing songs in his bedroom as a teenager. Deciding that 10 O’Clock Chemical should be presented as a live band, Rhys connected with local musicians Mark Crawford (all things synths and keys) and Jack Ellis (guitars) from their hometown of Stoke on Trent, connecting over a shared love for rock and electronica. In addition to their core lineup is a mysterious cyber entity called Zed, who carries administrative duties for the band and even makes the odd cameo appearance.

An enigmatic group with a penchant for sci-fi imagery and witty, observational songwriting, they were quickly voted ‘Best New Artist’ by six hundred of their peers at the Staffordshire and Cheshire Music Awards in Spring 2017. The band spent the rest of 2017 refining their sound, fusing their rock based sensibility with electronic sounds to create a hybrid sound which they’ve termed “Gritpop”, now adopted as the name for their own label.

10 O’Clock Chemical’s debut single ‘Babylon is Fallen’ was released to critical acclaim in February 2018 via their own Gritpop label. A second single, ‘We Are Digital’ followed in April, and was crowned Record of the Week on BBC Introducing Stoke. With flattering early comparisons as broad as Kasabian, Daft Punk, the Prodigy and Muse, 10 O’Clock Chemical are releasing their debut four track EP, Favours For The Wicked, on June 22. The EP was produced by Matt Johnson, digital wizard, keyboard player and producer in Jamiroquai, and mixed by Adrian Bushby, a double Grammy Award winning mix engineer, who has worked with the likes of Muse and Foo Fighters.

Fatherson have shared the new video for ‘Charm School’, taken from their forthcoming album Sum Of All Your Parts out on September 14. The second track to be taken from the album, ‘Charm School’  is, according to the band, “An observation on having to mind your p’s and q’s all the time – and the need to jump through hoops for other people. A charm school is an elocution school where people are taught manners above all else - which might be a little unrealistic for real life”.

Forming in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in early 2010, Fatherson immediately captured hearts with their raw, honest alt-rock sound. Inspired by Scottish stoicism as much as their own personal turmoil, debut album I Am An Island and its 2016 follow-up Open Book were masterclasses in full-throttle rock songwriting, and garnered support from (and tours alongside) their north-of-the-border brethren in Biffy Clyro, Frightened Rabbit, Idlewild and Twin Atlantic, as well as further runs alongside the likes of Kings Of Leon, Augustines, Enter Shikari and more. Open Book jumped straight in at No.2 in the Scottish album charts as well as performing strongly in the U.K. Other recent highlights include packing a 12,000 person tent at T in the Park.

A no-bullshit, heart-on-sleeve approach is integral to the band’s new sound. Where before, Leighton (vocals) admits to masking his thoughts and feelings behind metaphor and anecdote, this time around he pulled back the comfort blanket. “I think this is the first attempt at being a bit more specific, lyrically,” he says. “I was listening to a lot of Frank Ocean, who’s very specific with his lyrics, even though it’s very ambiguous. You might never know what it actually meant, but you can extrapolate something that’s a bit more personal. It’s less of a generalisation on the whole - it’s like, ‘I feel like this about this, and you can understand it or you can not’.

Recorded live and in chronological sequence with Claudius Mittendorfer (Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, Weezer), Sum Of All Your Parts fizzes with a youthful energy, reinvigorating the group from the get-go. “A big part of this process was trying to capture that feeling of when you play a song together for the first time, and you look at each other in the face and get that smile that you can’t get rid of,” explains Walkinshaw. “We weren’t so concerned about some of the pop sensibilities – it’s a little bit more raw, and a little bit more loose, and a bit funner, at points.”

Live dates:

02 Oct - Belfast, Voodoo

03 Oct - Dublin, Whelans

04 Oct - Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club

05 Oct - Manchester, Night People

06 Oct - Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge

08 Oct - Nottingham, Rock City

09 Oct - London, Scala

10 Oct - Norwich, Waterfront Studio

11 Oct - Brighton, Patterns

28 Oct - Newcastle University

02 Nov - Glasgow, Barrowland