The Tracklisting:
1 DRAG
2 GLIMMER
3 LIGHTS
4 AMIGO
5 HOLLOW
6 FOR REAL
7 MOONSOAKE
8 GRAFFITI
9 AUBERGINES
10 FLESH
11 DRIPPY
12 BLUE JEAN
The Truth: Wynona Bleach consist of Melyssa Shannon (vocals), Jonny Woods (guitar / vocals), Aaron Black (guitar), Matty Killen (drums) and Carl Gilmore (bass). They formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2018 and ‘Moonsoake’ is their debut album, which was due for release on fierce panda records on Valentine’s Day 2022 until we realised that was a Monday, so now it comes out as close to Valentine’s Day as possible, ie Friday February 18th. It is available on CD / coloured vinyl / digital
For if battered hearts and fractured emotions are the name of musical game then Wynona Bleach are on a winning bloodied streak. Similarly, if the band name evokes some kind of casual throwback to 1989, when the wistfully cool Winona Ryder ruled the acting world and Nirvana’s caustic debut platter accidentally paved the way for global rock dominance, then it fits (im)perfectly. As previous singles ‘Glimmer’, ‘Drag’ and ‘Aubergines’ would suggest it’s defiantly rock, but it’s also definitely pretty; as new single ‘Moonsoake’ (released on January 21st) proves, they fear not taking a leap of pop faith as well, the music forever embellished by Melyssa’s scathing little-girl-crossed vocals, no matter how lowslung or lurching.
You could call it EmoGaze. You could well be right. Continuing the fragrantly anomalous theme, small wonder the band signed their record deal in a beach hut – located in a very much landlocked locked down beer garden in downtown Brixton.
The first Wynona Bleach single was ‘Eyes Burning’ and their first EP was ‘Sugar’, which saw them make radio friends at Radio One, BBC 6music, KXLU and KEXP. They’ve performed Reading & Leeds Festival, played a special BBC Introducing show at Belfast Ulster Hall with SOAK, The Divine Comedy and Therapy?, supported Feeder, The Slow Reader’s Club and Lonely The Brave, and were personally invited to support Alice In Chains at Dublin Olympia Theatre and Belfast Telegraph Building, in those heady pre-covid days, ie 2019.
In a previous incarnation they played a 12 date tour of Russia, covering 6500 miles. Continuing the feverish collective work ethic, the band hauled an entire studio 1400 miles from their home city to a villa in central, rural Portugal where they lived and worked in an abandoned factory creating this, their debut album, ‘Moonsoake’. Armed with a string of gloriously alternative rock tunes reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins, Curve, The Joy Formidable and Wolf Alice, they found the perfect co-producer in the form of one-time Coral riffer Bill Ryder-Jones.
“Bill has been a heroic songwriter for us, especially across his solo career. We have too many engineer-savvy people in our band, and so we wanted primarily a songwriter to team up with us. His musical style, vision and insight were exactly what the band needed.”
The ‘Moonsoake’ album also features tracks mixed by Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh (Manic Street Preachers, Tori Amos, Bjork).
After supporting labelmates China Bears at the Lexington in February, Wynona Bleach soake up some moonlit vibes when they play this hometown launch show here:
MARCH 24TH 2022
BELFAST ULSTER SPORTS CLUB
(+ Naked Lungs + Reasy Ajarro)
www.facebook.com/wynonableach
www.fiercepanda.co.uk
