The epitome of a modern artist, Jana Bahrich does most things herself, no matter how painstaking - writing, producing, directing, often hand painting t-shirts the day of shows when the band have run out of merch. This has helped give her band Francis of Delirium a unique identity, with her rock confessionals breathing a new life in to the genre and her paintings creating a striking design aesthetic.

Released as she was finishing high school, 2020’s single 'Quit Fucking Around’ was a great introduction and it remains one of her most enduring songs. Shortly after it’s release, she signed to artist-first indie Dalliance Recordings (Gia Margaret, HighSchool, lilo) and three EPs - 'All Change' (2020), 'Wading' (2021), 'The Funhouse' (2022) and a striking debut album - 'Lighthouse' (2024) - on and Jana has Francis of Delirium flying.

While the EP’s fizzed with promise, her debut album 'Lighthouse' landed its punches. Seeking a more vulnerable and open sonic palette, she wove in pop elements to create anthems that celebrated heartbreak and love. Lead singles ‘Real Love’ and ‘First Touch’ were the first tracks she made with an outsider - working with GRAMMY winning producer Catherine Marks (boygenius, The Killers, Wolf Alice) - while the rest of the album was produced by Jana herself and day one collaborator Chris Hewett. 

Live, Francis of Delirium are Jana (guitar and vocals), Jeff Hennico (bass) and Denis Schumacher (drums). Together, their brilliant quiet-loud dynamic and tight interplay only elevate her songs and over the last 5 years, they’ve toured across Europe and North America, playing headline shows, festivals and tours with the likes of Blondshell, Briston Maroney, The Districts, Horsegirl and Soccer Mommy. They’ve also supported The 1975, Alanis Morissette, DIIV and Wolf Alice.

Last summer saw a memorable UK tour with Bôa, the 90s band resurrected by a huge TikTok moment for their track ‘Duvet’. There was a real sense of excitement for these shows with young crowds snaking outside every venue hours before doors and bringing the sort of energy Jana thrives on, she road tested new material to an overwhelmingly positive response, giving her the impetus to go and finish album two.

An artist who seeks to connect with her listener on a deeper level, it’s no surprise then that she’s made hope and inner strength central themes on her new album, 'Run, Run Pure Beauty'. Jana says the title track is “an imagining of the world after it has been destroyed by humans and technology. Thrashing against what humans have left behind, ultimately the pure beauty of nature wins out.” Wanting to bring different perspectives into her songwriting with this record - informed by both her travels and the tumultuous times we find ourselves in - she’s also brought about a progression in her sound with these new songs somehow sounding larger, with undeniable harmonies and more orchestration.

Featuring the singles ‘Little Black Dress’ and ‘It’s a Beautiful Life’, 'Run, Run Pure Beauty' serves as an excavation of hope in bleak times. Produced by Jana and Chris, and mixed by Nicolas Vernhes (Deerhunter, Dirty Projectors, Silver Jews, Wild Nothing), its eleven songs of discovery, despair and perseverance ultimately serve as a mirror on its creator and is a brilliant next installment in the Francis of Delirium arc.

TRACK LISTING

1. Aliens
2. Out Tonight
3. Run, Run Pure Beauty
4. Higher
5. Damned
6. Little Black Dress
7. Sucker Punch
8. Open Up Your Mouth To Love
9. Requiem For A Dying Day
10. Modern Madonna
11. It’s A Beautiful Life

Since first emerging in early 2020 with the anthemic ‘Quit Fucking Around’ and releasing a critically acclaimed 3-part EP trilogy between 2020 and 2022, Francis of Delirium gained praise for distilling the angst and despair that plagues a generation who faces an uncertain present and future.

Francis of Delirium was shortlisted for 2022’s highly prestigious ESNS Music Moves Europe Award, as well as gaining accolades from the world’s music press and supporting some of the biggest artists on the planet, at still only 22 years old. A restless energy and desire to connect with the listener lies at the core of the project, with Jana’s personal lyrics being underpinned by a fierce rock sound that is as liberating as it is intense. Hailed as a Gen Z’er excitingly redrawing 90s classic indie rock (unsurprising given her chief collaborator Chris Hewett hails from Seattle and is three decades her senior) a deep admiration for contemporary acts such as Car Seat Headrest, Japanese Breakfast, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens is also abundantly clear.

The upcoming album is titled ‘Lighthouse’, as their music has always straddled the line of light and darkness, both musically and lyrically. Expanding the instrumentation by incorporating more pianos and acoustic guitars, the tracks on ‘Lighthouse’ are intimate and disarming.

“Tackling big existential questions and turbulent emotions, (Francis of Delirium) throw off promising sparks of brilliance.” Pitchfork, 7.4 EP Review.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Ballet Dancers (Never Love Again)
2. Real Love
3. First Touch
4. Want You
5. Blue Tuesday
6. Cliffs

Side B
7. Starts To End
8. Alone Tonight
9. Something's Changed
10. Who You Are
11. Give It Back To Me

Rooted in London’s DIY scene and with a steady run of compelling singles and unpredictable live shows, Hank have gained a reputation for being “one of the best alternative acts in London right now” (So Young). On record, they slip between noise and melody, intimacy and dissonance, drawing comparisons to forebears like My Bloody Valentine, The Breeders and Beck, while their live performances only serve to elevate these contrasts. The past few years has seen formative performances at DIY parties and support slots alongside Been Stellar, Catcher, DEADLETTER, HighSchool, Mannequin Pussy, RIP Magic, Sorry, and Sunken, with this summer seeing them play their first headline shows across the UK as well as appearing at festivals including Left of the Dial and The Great Escape.

Their debut EP 'Twist Grip' set the tone, produced by Jamie Neville (Mark William Lewis, PVA) and featuring guest spots from Asha Lorenz (Sorry) and Ben Romans-Hopcraft (Warmduscher), it earned quick attention with Still Listening Magazine naming it their EP of the Year for 2024. Their second EP ‘Spiralic' came just six months later; again working with Neville, it showed their first EP was no fluke. From the expansive opener “Stand On Yr Star” to the probing “Temp Fix” (featuring Lola’s longtime friend Theo Bleak), Spiralic explores vulnerability, memory and unease through a circular motif of resurfacing thoughts (hence the title).

To close the year, both EPs are being released on vinyl for the first time, being collected as a mini-album as the third in the exciting series of Dinked’s exciting new ‘Early Doors’ series limited and exclusive pressings for the best new bands around. This special edition is also being expanded with second EP’s previously unheard title track “Spiralic” being added; a meditation on repetition, confrontation and escape which features both Sorry’s Asha Lorenz and Marco Pini (also RIP Magic, Slow Dance), the latter also designing the beautiful sleeve art that extends the record’s spiral theme into its physical form.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1. Angel Says
A2. Pull It Off
A3. DYLM
A4. RanThruBlue

Side B
B1. Stand On Yr Star
B2. Temp Fix
B3. Trusted
B4. Dogstar
B5. Spiralic

Written after a relationship’s end, Rowena Wise’s Senseless Acts of Beauty is a stunning and searingly honest record.

A new yet accomplished artist, Rowena grew up in the Western Australian surf town of Margaret River perfoming in her family’s folk band. Now grown up and living in Melbourne, her electric solo live performances of recent years has seen a real word of mouth build around her.

A songwriter inspired by the strong storytelling sensibilities of 60s folk icons, Senseless Acts of Beauty delivers on the promise hinted at by her live show. Full of emotional depth, its ten tracks offer heady ruminations on love, loss, and alienation. And by electing to record them all live in the room, often in one take, the kinks and blemishes add weight to the lived experience of Rowena’s lyrics.

TRACK LISTING

A1. In For The Kill
A2. Nobody’s Saviour
A3. 26 Hours
A4. Forgiving Up
A5. Indifferent
B1. Life Of The Party
B2. New Years
B3. Knife
B4. We Are Nothing
B5. Gone

‘There’s Always Glimmer' is a hugely rewarding and deeply affecting slow burner. An accomplished record that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, catching people’s attention with the fragile, intimate beauty of Gia’s compositions carrying her poignant lyrics. With word of mouth growing and multiple pressings of the record having sold out since, it’s great news then that it is finally getting the full release outside of North America that it richly deserves. The fruit of years of endeavour, ‘There’s Always Glimmer’ represents a time in Gia’s life when she had to balance her creative urges with the basic need to pay rent. A Chicago native, she excelled at both piano and guitar growing up, later finding solace in writing songs hidden away in her bedroom. Informed by greats such as Nick Drake, Linda Perhacs, The Roches and Connie Converse, she became increasingly confident that music could become more than a hobby, buoyed by the receptive audience her demos and cover series found online. Still, she decided not to rush, instead biding her time until she felt she had the right body of work to make an album ready for the daylight.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Groceries
A2. Birthday
A3. Figures
A4. Smoke
A5. Goodnight
A6: In Normal Ways
B1. Looking
B2. For Flora
B3. Sugar
B4. Exist
B5. Wayne
B6. West