This month’s featured band is Essex-based dreampop/shoegaze 4-piece She’s In Parties.
She’s In Parties are a hazy and ethereal quartet whose own idiosyncratic amalgamation of shoegaze and dream-pop belies their relatively young years. Taking their cues from the likes of Slowdive, Cocteau Twins and The Cure, the band harbour a sense of nostalgia certainly, but they avoid feeling derivative. Instead, they succeed in marrying the classic and the contemporary, resulting in an aesthetic that’s both haunting, and effortlessly cool.
The band formed after frontperson Katie Dillon realised she wanted to be in a band and enlisted the help of schoolmate Herbie Wiseman as guitarist. They recruited Charlie Johnson on bass, and when their original drummer went off to university, a friend of Katie’s put her in touch with Matt Carman to fill that position and so the four-piece was born.
Named after the Bauhaus song, the band is connected via their shared love of 80s & 90s shoegaze and alternative scenes.
The band’s first official single ‘Angelic’, a hazy, dream-pop cut which a message about consent and self-value, came out in August 2022. Speaking about it, lead singer Katie Dillon said:
“The idea for this whole song was to talk to men directly, it’s a message to respect women. It’s also a message for female-identifying people to really take a look at yourself and see that you are this divine being, and no one can take that away from you, specifically men. We are all angelic, not because a man sees you that way but because you see yourself that way.”
The following singles, “I Follow You” and “Cherish,” also released in 2022, quickly got the attention of major radio stations.
“At the time ‘Cherish’ was written I was going through some weird times in my relationship, I was never good at communicating my feelings and so things would just build up, at the same time though, neither was he. We were young going into it, not that it was a bad thing, but we were growing up together and learning so much about ourselves and each other. What I write in this song mainly suggests to myself, at the time, to cherish the love that we have for each other because ultimately there was too much love and memories and history there to just let it all go. I hope people will feel uplifted when listening to this song. Cherish the love always because someday that person might go away”.
Katie
Debut EP ‘End Scene‘
For their debut EP, the four piece wanted to construct a record that’s influenced by the idea of a final, reflective monologue scene in a movie, and would fit nicely in an 80’s coming of age film like The Breakfast Club, but with their own generational twist to it. Themes include platonic and romantic relationships, mental health battles, illicit substance experimentation and more.
The band elaborated on the EP:
“We wanted to write an ep of music that would fit nicely in an 80’s coming of age film, but with our own twist to it, music for a generation of people just like us sort of thing. We’re all in our 20’s so we’re coming of age ourselves, meaning it’s sommin we relate to and, whether we like it or not, reflects itself in our music writing. Hopefully there’s sentiment in that for you when you listen. Time to get damn nostalgic!“
She’s In Parties are:
- Katie Dillon (vocals/guitar)
- Herbie Wiseman (guitar)
- Matt Carman (drums)
- Charlie Johnson (bass)
More Info:
Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, YouTube
Photo credit: @pol.ocho
