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Nick Cody & The Heartache is at the Crossroads of ‘Sweet Songs and Bitter Truth’ with His Latest LP: An Interview

Posted on 10 May 2026

With Sweet Songs & Bitter Truth, locked, loaded and ready to unleash, Nick Cody & The Heartache arrived at this interview with a record that refuses emotional simplicity.

The album holds protest and tenderness in the same grip, moving from sharp-eyed commentary on political madness to songs shaped by loss, love, mischief and memory. In this conversation, Nick reflects on writing from outrage without losing hope, paying tribute to a dearly missed friend in Another Thin White Duke, and bringing together a cast of musicians who keep the project fluid, soulful and gloriously human. He also opens up about Liz Hanks’ cello adding a fresh emotional shade to the record, the significance of supporting Martin Simpson, and why this release has pushed his writing into even bolder territory.

Sweet Songs & Bitter Truth is built around two very different emotional and political currents, so when you were shaping the album, what made you want to place tenderness and protest side by side rather than keep them in separate worlds?

From observing world events, I found myself heading into “full Billy Bragg” mode commentary about a lot of the craziness around the globe. In the same way at one point I looked at the live set we were preparing and thought “OMG, people have enough doom and gloom in the news, without me reinforcing all the craziness around the globe!” So I decided some balance would be helpful to offer some optimism. It took me ages to come up with a title that would bring these two very different worlds together, but “Sweet songs and bitter truth” really works well. I also had the terrific Sarah Patrick once again create some great visuals for the album,

The first two singles on the LP, The World’s Richest Man and We Are the Many, take a clear-eyed look at the state of the world, so what was pushing hardest on your mind when those songs were written?

“The World’s Richest Man” was inspired by seeing a particular character with a chainsaw on TV gesticulating about what he was going to do and something flipped and I thought “For f**cks sake, what is this?” The line “The World’s richest man, far right on stage” is of course intentional and I will let the listener decide for themselves how to interpret that line…

“We are the many” was inspired by watching a face off on TV between two groups at an immigration in the UK. One group facing off against a right wing group chanted “We are the many, you are the few” I thought “What a brilliant chorus!” and so the song emerged from that.

The single, Another Thin White Duke, carries a dedication to David Bowie Jnr, which gives it an emotional gravity beyond tribute alone, so what did you most want to preserve about him in that song, the musician, the mischief, or the person behind both?

Dave Bowie Jnr was a dear friend and a brilliant musician. He played with a number of other great artists, including Snake Davis and The Ukulele Orchestra. He was witty, mischievous and would always be polite but speak his mind. He is greatly missed and a huge number of people came from all over to his funeral I included all the aliases of the more famous David Bowie and so the track deliberately references both individuals. Agi my longstanding vocalist does a great job as usual on this track. Later this year, we’ll release a version with the internationally renowned Snake Davis who had Dave in his band for many years.

Liz Hanks’ cello seems to open up a very different sonic palette on this record, so how did her presence shape the emotional temperature of the album?

I met Liz when I hosted her and Martin Simpson mack in 2024 and was amazed by her playing, such an amazing touch, Little wonder she is the go too artist for many greats including The Pet Shop Boys, Liam Gallagher, Richard Hawley, James and many other artists. Her cello adds a wonderful soulful touch to the album, so its sonically very different to any other artist contributing to my material to date.

With Agi, Harry Orme, Liz Hanks, Claire Helm, and Andy Wright all part of this wider musical world, what do you think each person brings that keeps Nick Cody & The Heartache feeling alive rather than fixed?

Clair Helm is a dark horse! She can literally sing the phone book and sing anything from opera to rock to roots. We have started on the “Cody/Helm” project for release in 2027. Andy Wright is a seasoned musician who knows exactly when to play and when not to play. I’m excited to be working with them and we’ll be together live supporting Martin Simpson. Harry Orme is a brilliant guitarist which is rock sold and can play anything I throw at him. Agi is a mind blowing vocalist I have been working with for almost nine years and Liz is as I have said a superb musician with amazing feel. I am delighted to be playing with them and they inspire me to create music that I would never have considered possible.

You’re supporting Martin Simpson at The Old Woollen, which is a huge moment, so what does a slot like that mean to you at this point, especially with Sweet Songs & Bitter Truth freshly out in the world as of May 8th?

I love supporting Martin as he brings a listening audience and as a support act you have to bring your A game. This is a great opportunity and I am grateful to Martin for all his support over the years. These days its tough for original artists to reach a wider audience and these windows of opportunity are truly precious and never to be taken for granted.

Looking ahead, do you feel this album has opened a new lane for your writing, one where social commentary and emotional intimacy can keep rubbing against each other in even sharper ways?

100% YES! I am already working on some more protest songs, including “Epic Love” which has a chorus “No amount of make up, makes up for human worth, the worst of the worst to ever walk this earth” As my good friend Martin Simpson would often say “As you can see, I have no strong feelings aabout this matter…

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Discover more about Nick Cody & The Heartache via their official website.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

Nick Cody and the Heartache: We Are the Many – Euphony-Rich Folk for the Empathic Masses

Posted on 12 April 2026

Against the backdrop of a fractured Britain, Nick Cody and the Heartache orchestrated a folk-infused uprising in their latest single, We Are the Many. Hailing from the creative hive of Leeds, Cody is a writer who has long earned nods from scene heavyweights like Chris Catalyst, yet this latest ensemble feels particularly vital.

The track redresses the ‘masses against the classes’ energy of the Manics within an accordance of euphony-rich harmony. Alongside Cody’s rallying, Billy Bragg-esque vocals linger the diaphanous timbre of Liz Hanks. Having previously lent her cello and vocal weight to legends like the Pet Shop Boys, Liz Hanks softens the blow of this protestive serenade. She takes the sting out of the inequity which necessitated the release, reminding listeners that some souls still swim in empathy. The radiance of the harmonies in this cathartically pure single is diametrically opposed to the angst found on the other side of the socio-political spectrum, instilled with a grace Reform voters could only hope for. It is a sonic sanctuary for those tired of the status quo.

Taken from the upcoming album, Sweet Songs & Bitter Truth, the track will also feature in the film All Kinds of Crazy.

We Are the Many is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Poppy Freeley Transmuted the Torture Trap of Nostalgia into Cinematic Indie Dream Pop in Old Days

Posted on 16 June 2025

In her debut single, Old Days, Poppy Freeley etched the emotional archaeology of heartbreak into an ambient daydream of introspection and ache, and explored how, just like a snake sheds its skin, we outgrow people until they become someone we used to know. Hailing from Leeds, the singer-songwriter didn’t approach her first sonic statement with caution; instead, she let her melancholia bloom into a sepia vignette that shadows you long after the final reverb trails into nothing.

Old Days is a confessional archive of loss, but not the kind that leaves you empty. It evokes the merciless rhythm of growing apart from who you once were and the people that version of you clung to. The dream pop-laced arrangement presses its weight on your ribcage, not to suffocate, but to make you feel how much of the past still lingers in your lungs. The production wears the same nostalgic patina as a shoebox full of undeveloped film, and through her vocals, Poppy conjures the same spectral desolation found in the most soul-shattering cuts from My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Her voice doesn’t reach for breathy dramatics; instead, it glides through the haze with a mournful grace that carries more weight than any overworked hook.

With her nods to Lana Del Rey and Amy Winehouse, Poppy sets her own creative coordinates without replicating the architecture of her inspirations. Old Days doesn’t seek to comfort or resolve, it simply offers a mirror to the ache of remembering. That truth alone will echo loudest with indie fans who understand that nostalgia never really fades, it just shifts form.

Old Days is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

– Review by Amelia Vandergast

High-Beta Scattered Lo-Fi Stardust Across Existential Desolation in ‘Sky in the Absence of Ground’

Posted on 7 June 2025

High-Beta, the solo moniker of Manchester-Leeds-based producer James Bebbington, poured celestial introspection into lo-fi electronica with Sky in the Absence of Ground. Lifted from the newly released LP Under Streetlights, which officially landed on June 6th, the track threads retro textures into a spatial meditation that defies weight and structure, both sonically and thematically.

The title alone reads like a line stripped from a Sylvia Plath verse, but the weight of the sentiment doesn’t drift unanchored. Bebbington instils meaning with every progression. His decision to forgo emotive restraint results in a vocal performance that invites the listener into the raw nerve of the track’s core. The harmonies hang in a state of arrest, teetering between the comfort of familiarity and the disorientation of cosmic detachment.

With High-Beta’s signature minimalism acting as an emotional accelerant, the lo-fi aesthetic never overshadows the intent. Instead, it creates a porous membrane through which vulnerability seeps, saturating the keys with aching sincerity. There’s a nostalgic ache in the melodic resolve, yet it avoids indulgence.

High-Beta offers more than sound; this is a broadcast from a psychological and emotional elsewhere, an aural artefact transmitting what remains in the air when the certainties of gravity collapse.

Discover High-Beta on Bandcamp and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Witch of the East Cursed the TERF Crusade and Scored a Soundtrack for Resistance with Geist Girl

Posted on 9 May 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaLnRQHQrT0

Witch of the East needs few introductions these days; she’s prolific in her mission of reshaping culture while too many still scrape around in the gutter, mistaking their thin-skinned bigotry for moral concern. Every track she creates, every post she publishes, every poem she breathes into the world is an act of resistance, which repurposes hate, exposes it, and uses it to charge a counterculture movement.

As a trans TikTok trailblazer, viral visual artist, poet, and darkwave siren, all her talents alchemise to advocate for trans rights and expose the most spectral sides of souls who’ve discovered the pain of self-awareness in a world that demands we sleepwalk through hegemonic fantasy. Instead of flinching from the darkness, she cracks it open and lets something altogether more powerful pour out.

Every day, Witch of the East puts herself in the digital firing line to bring awareness to the absurdity of the vilification of trans people. Since the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that trans women aren’t legally recognised as women — a ruling as vile as it is historically regressive — she’s only intensified her output. While others pander, she retaliates. While trolls try to bury her in hatred, she builds platforms from the ashes.

With the release of Geist Girl, she gave every prejudiced projection of hate a face by orchestrating a sonic exorcism around hypnotic oscillations, strobing synths and echoes of industrial machina motifs, pulling viewers into a haunted dreamscape where the violence of transphobia can no longer hide behind language like “concern” or “opinion”. Each message that appears in the video is real. Each one stings with the ignorance of those who don’t realise — or don’t care — that their words can kill. Their dialect is crass, common, and cowardly, regurgitated without a second’s thought for the consequences.

But Witch of the East gave them a platform they never anticipated: one where their bile was neutralised by art. One where their words served only to showcase how grotesque they’ve become. Refusing to contort herself into a distorted image to appease the obnoxious entitlement of people content to make hate an integral part of their identity, she gave us this:

“This video is a response to the wave of negative messages I received after publicly sharing my truth as a transgender woman. Following a major legal ruling that questions the identity of trans women in the UK, these messages came pouring in — each one a window into a growing cultural shift. But this video isn’t just about one person or one moment. It’s about what happens when fear turns into division — and how that division is used. History has shown us: it never stops with just one group. It always spreads. Until even those watching in silence realise: they were never safe either. This is a document. A reflection. A call to think deeper, love louder, and stand together before more is lost.”

TERFs, who posture as protectors while doing the work of oppressors, should consider this their reckoning. They’ve turned their backs on liberation to cling to a bigotry that masquerades as principle. Their obsession with borders — between male and female, between us and them — reveals more about their insecurities than any trans person ever could. They aren’t defending womanhood; they’re defiling it.

Witch of the East doesn’t owe them, or anyone else, an explanation. Her humour, strength, and grace should serve as a template to humanity, not the baying mob simping around JK Rowling like she’s the messiah of gender-critical ignorance.

And now she’s not stopping at a music video. She’s hosting a protest disguised as a gig. A space for fury, unity, and unapologetic resistance.

PROTECT THE DOLLS

This is a line in the sand.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that trans women are not women. They’ve forced us into men’s bathrooms. They’ve stripped away our dignity, our safety, our rights.
We will not take this quietly. We will not disappear.

PROTECT THE DOLLS is a full-throttle protest show — a night of power and resistance — raising funds for trans charities, fighting for the rights of trans youth and the wider community.

Line-up:

● WITCH OF THE EAST — goth, darkwave, and electronic resistance straight from the frontline.
● FLESH PLANET — ex-Allusondrugs / Allusinlove members, fusing grunge, industrial, and rebellion.
● A VOID — London’s chaotic grunge-punk powerhouse, armed with venom and heart.
● more to be announced

Saturday 24th May — The Parish, Huddersfield
£8 advance / Pay What You Decide
All proceeds to trans rights initiatives.

If you care about justice, you’ll be there. If you’re tired of silence being mistaken for neutrality, you’ll lend your voice. And if you still believe art can change the world, you’ll stand with Witch of the East. She’s already done her part. Now it’s your turn.

Discover, support and follow Witch of the East on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Eureka Machines – Everything: Power-Pop’s Turing Test for Your Emotional Core

Posted on 11 April 2025

Eureka Machines are keeping the serotonin cogs turning with their sixth studio album, ‘Everything’, and it’s everything a power pop record should be. Just as the Turing Test ascertains if technology can possess human cognition, Eureka Machines tests the human capacity to feel visceral emotion or whether you’ve left your soul out in the cold for too long.

Kicking off with the scuzzy pop-punk chords in the title single, there’s an instant affirmation that the Leeds-based outfit succeeded in their mission to flood the studio with the energy they project on the stage. Winding a few euphoria-doused James Dean Bradfield-esque riffs into the mix, the opening track reaches the epitome of affecting. When the vocals come in as a clean, cutting juxtaposition to the cultivated spirals of rhythmic distortion, you’ll be torn between being emotionally ruined by the lyrics and subjugating yourself to the pulsating augmentations of pretence-less power pop.

As the album progresses, it evidences singer-songwriter Chris Catalyst’s songwriting chops as he humbly demands emotional investment through the sheer authenticity of his charismatic candour. There are performers, and there are conduits of sonic expressionism and with the help of Wayne Insane (drums), Pete Human (bass, vox), and Davros (guitar, vox), he’s in the pantheon of the latter camp.

With poignant introspective outpours wrapping around poetic parables remaining a constant throughout the 12 singles, Eureka Machines only leans into stylistic departures from the preceding singles. After ‘Black and White’ nods to 90s Britpop, ‘Canaries in the Coalmine’ veers into a symbiosis of alt-rock and the working-class fire of Morrissey’s First of the Gang to Die and If I’m Gonna Fight Myself, I’ll Never Win’ teases its way into punk ‘n’ roll territory with Catalyst’s signature soaring with sticky-sweet sentimentality vocals tempering the frenetic percussion.

I was preparing myself for a stripped-back ballad-esque entry, and it finally arrived with ‘Home’, which gives full permission to lean into the lyricism, cradled by the artful motifs as they ascend around the intimate confessions. By this point, you’ll be wondering if Catalyst bought shares in Kleenex before dropping the album and if Trump funded the heavy emotive artillery.

‘They’re Coming To Get You’ is a full-on exhibition of how effortlessly synergised Eureka Machines have become since 2007. Instrumentally, the riff-heavy track proves that they could skate by on their technical precision alone and leave out all semblance of personality. The synthesis, which is just as harmonious as the layered vocals, sets the perfect tone for the concluding single, ‘Beautiful Day’, which ebbs away ennui. It’s a choral masterpiece which takes the record to consoling new heights.

In an era when becoming numb is a coping mechanism and dragging yourself through the darker days gets harder, albums like this transcend sound to build sanctuaries where it’s safe to resonate.

‘Everything’ was released on April 11^th and is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify and Bandcamp, and can be purchased on vinyl and CD via the official merch store.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nick Cody & The Heartache’s ‘Next Up’ Is A Swaggering Alt-Rock Serenade to Survival

Posted on 11 April 2025

With their latest single, Next Up, from the freshly pressed LP This is Love and the Heartache, Leeds-based Nick Cody & The Heartache have decidedly dialled up the swank and swagger. Frenetically paced grooves pull listeners into a sandstorm of Jim Morrison-esque desert-infused vocals, while backing harmonies create a dynamic, kinetic whirlwind of alt-rock reverence. The ensemble seems charged with an infectious energy that leaps effortlessly from musician to musician, ensuring the track becomes a certified serotonin shot—even against the stark refrain, ‘you don’t know what it’s like to die ‘round here’.

Clearly the band’s boldest sonic exploration to date, the creative gamble has spectacularly paid off. Genre boundaries crumble away as Next Up seamlessly sways from funk to college radio rock, slipping into vintage soul without missing a beat or dropping intensity. Released via Green Eyed Records—an imprint championing creative collaboration, previously hosting acclaimed artists like Jon Gomm and Martin Simpson—the single underscores Cody’s razor-sharp lyrical instincts and penchant for crafting melodies that refuse to fade.

Next Up is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nick Cody & The Heartache featuring Calverley Community Choir’s ‘This is Love’ is a slice of divine sonic intervention

Posted on 1 February 2025

Nick Cody & The Heartache’s cover of ‘This is Love’—originally by Towse—featuring the Calverley Community Choir is an immersive sermon on the visceral weight of human connection. Recorded by acclaimed Leeds producer Carl Rosamond, this track will feature on the forthcoming album This is Love and Heartache, slated for release on 11th April 2025 via Green Eyed Records.

True to form, the Leeds-based artist, whose previous work has been praised by notable names such as Jon Gomm and Chris Catalyst, continues to define the indefinable. Jim Glennie, founder member of James, aptly summarised Nick’s artistry as “wonderfully innovative and explorative… exciting and unpredictable,” and ‘This is Love’ lives up to that ethos.

Underpinned by the gentle tension of overdriven guitar chords, the track lets emotion guide the orchestration. Cody’s lead vocals entwine with the celestial harmonies of the Calverley Community Choir, creating an ethereal interplay that transcends rhythm and time. The track’s tenderness belies its immense emotional force; while the delicate crescendos may warm the soul, the unflinching gravity of the lyrics bears down on it.

Far from simply replicating Towse’s original, Cody renders the song anew, threading in his signature authenticity. This is a love song that abandons cliché in favour of a raw yet profoundly human exploration of connection. For fans of Low or those who appreciate their music with both abrasion and beauty, ‘This is Love’ is a strikingly unforgettable experience.

This is Love will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Soundcloud, from February 1^st.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ludvik Langholm orchestrated an installation of anachronistically opulent alt indie reverie with ‘A Parody’

Posted on 25 June 2024

For their latest release, A Parody, the eclectic Leeds-based sound sculptor, Ludvik Langholm, emerged as a polymath producer and vividly histrionic narrator of burning desire to give fans of Roar, Vunderbar and Sir Chloe a perennial playlist staple.

The latest baroquely alt-indie single is a parallel universe and a few centuries away from the preceding release, Empty Parking Lot, which painted an intimate portrayal of a psyche torn between reaching and retreating in tender lo-fi brushstrokes. The Jane Austen-esque lyricism captures intense yearning as the intentional abstractions make room for personal reflection; the score gives the listener the freedom to implant their own melodramatic coveting affections into the superlative release.

Langholm tears through space and time by allowing A Parody to open on an installation of old-school Hollywood filmic reverie with their chanteuse-esque vocal lines lighting up the production until the lush layers of instrumentation deliver swathes of anachronistic opulence, which is perfectly balanced and moderately modernised with their signature introspective alt-indie warmth filled melodies that we’ll never tire of hearing.

A Parody was officially released on June 20; stream the single on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lose your head and your heartbreak on the dancefloor with Sam Macdonald’s nu-disco hit, I Wanted More

Posted on 2 June 2024

80s synth pop vicariously lives and breathes through Sam Macdonald’s latest nu-disco hit, I Wanted More, which is a testament to the artist and producer’s cultivated talent, honed while studying music production at Leeds Conservatoire.

Hit play and be force-fed ear candy through the synthesis of the rhythmically compulsive disco grooves and the 80s Madonna-esque vocals that don’t stop at soaring above the production; the passion within them wraps around the track like an incandescent aura you will want to bask in time and time again.

The euphoria within the fiery neon-lit tour de force, which finds a vindicating way to address the dejection of not being able to meet unrealistic romantic expectations ensures that anyone who has been burnt by that particular old flame before will be able to lose their head and heartbreak on the dancefloor with this flawless hit.

I Wanted More was officially released on May 10^th and is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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