Folly Group

In the organizer's words:

After 2 acclaimed EPs, their debut album "Down There!" will be released on January 12, 2024 on So Young Records.

With their influences of post-punk, dub, trip-hop, dance music and traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms, Folly Group has established themselves among the new vanguards of British experimental rock. With their open-hearted lyricism and inventive self-production, they give a truly original voice to a familiar theme - alienation in modern Britain.

"Down There!" was self-produced by the entire band and deals in depth with life as a young adult in this country: it's about mental health ("Bright Night"), physical health ("Freeze"), financial constraints ("East Flat Crows"), turbulent friendships ("I'll Do What I Can") and more. The lyrics are shared by drummer/vocalist Sean Harper and Milbern, who - despite their respective more abstract and literal styles - deal with common themes of "disenfranchisement, dejection, fear and financial ruin," Harper explains. "For every personal step forward, an impromptu decision by a politician we'll never meet throws us two steps back-most of the time we're just angry."

This is illustrated by the 3D cave network on the cover: it consists of 10 points taken from a map of the 10 most important places in London for the creation of the record. "They are depicted as a cave, a visual metaphor for the feeling of being under the weight of the world," he continues.

The band relates many of these feelings to the realities of being a young musician and having to balance them with full-time jobs. "We don't have enough time to do this band, but we do it anyway. We make enormous sacrifices in other areas of our lives out of a blind belief that this is the right thing to do." This underscores the sense that "Down There!" - despite its themes - is a triumphant album. The dedicated, meticulous work and honest lyrics speak to the group's shared belief in themselves and their determination to defy all odds, which the album describes. "Just the fact that it exists is a victory."

Formed in 2019, the band consists of Harper, Milburn, Tom Doherty (bass) and Kai Akinde-Hummel (percussion, drums). Following nationwide lockdowns, they burst onto the UK scene with BBC Radio 6 Music A-listed singles "Butt No Rifle" and "Sandfight": the latter declared IDLES' Joe Talbot his "favorite song of the year." Heralded as "one to watch" by NME, DIY and BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders, they released their highly acclaimed debut EP "Awake And Hungry" in 2021.

This led to tours with Do Nothing and PVA, a collaboration with Metronomy and festivals such as Latitude, Truck and Pitchfork Music Festival London. The band followed with their explosive second EP, "Human And Kind," which included the BBC Radio 6 Music A-listed single "I Raise You (The Price Of Your Head)." This led to a headline tour of the UK (including London's Studio 9294), tours with artists such as Orlando Weeks and festival appearances at Glastonbury, The Great Escape and SXSW.

..... and then in April 2024 for the first time in Germany to see!