M U S I C
Blanck Mass 28 THE LIST 1 Nov 2019–31 Jan 2020
TINY CHANGES A year after the passing of Scott Hutchison, the Frightened Rabbit frontman’s family founded Tiny Changes, a charity aimed at supporting young people affected by mental-health issues, while encouraging everyone to (in Scott’s own words) ‘make tiny changes to earth’. (MF)
THE VEGAN LEATHER Paisley’s perennial pop grafters the Vegan Leather have been knocking on the door for a while now, and with Radio 1-approved new single ‘The Hit’ and debut album Poor Girls/ Broken Boys, it appears ready to swing open for them. (DP)
COMFORT Comfort’s Not Passing takes on anti-trans toxicity in an exhilarating blast of electronic punk defiance. Live, the sibling duo of Natalie and Sean are more exciting still, as barbed vocals ring out over demented synths and propulsive drums. (SS)
HEIR OF THE CURSED Beldina Odenyo Onassis has had another productive year, starting with a stunning headline set during Celtic Connections before stealing the show at Kelburn Garden Party and Doune the Rabbit Hole. Plus she’s made strides in theatre, writing music for Leonie Rae Gasson’s Death Becomes Us. (CA)
BLANCK MASS Now that Benjamin John Power, formerly part of Fuck Buttons, lives in Edinburgh these days, we get to claim him as our own. Which is lucky, because his fourth album Animated Violence Mild was a fierce collision of rave, trap and electro which conjured the spirit of these times. (DP)
SHEARS She may have played her debut show this year at Wide Days, but Rebecca Shearing is anything but a newcomer, having amassed an early following and sold out her first headline show in June. As one of the most exciting young voices about, SHEARS is ready for her dark pop to be unleashed onto the world. (AQ)
SIOBHAN WILSON Possessor of a sublimely ethereal voice and a profound talent for songwriting, Siobhan Wilson followed up her 2018 Scottish Album of the Year nomination with The Departure, a beautifully haunting and atmospheric record inspired by the singer’s nomadic tendencies. (MR)