Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to

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How do, Manchester – it’s that time again, time to look back over another great month of new music and pick out some of the best local artists we’ve been listening to over the past four weeks.

Be them veterans of the Manc music scene by now, or more up-and-coming bands and solo artists that are just getting excited, there’s space for all on this monthly list.

We’re all here for the same reason after all: we just love finding new tunes and acts that we’ve not come across before and with so much out there these days, it can be tough to sift through everything.

That’s where we come in, so without further ado, here are the five Manchester music artists that we’ve been listening to throughout the month of March.

1. The Covasettes

First up on the list is a Fallowfield-formed quartet with roots in Hyde and various other parts of Manchester that many of you may have seen on festival lineups over the past few years. They also happen to have just announced their biggest tour yet in support of more new music on the way.

If you’ve been lucky enough to see them live before like us, then you’ll know these lads have a dedicated following already that just keeps growing and deservedly so. With an irresistibly defiant and uplifting indie sound, there’s something very late 90s/2000s British alt-rock about them and we love it.

Having been releasing stuff since 2018, you can’t start anywhere else other than their biggest tune ‘Be Mine’ but we’d highly recommend ‘Duvet Thief’ (great album artwork too) as your second play and their latest single ‘One Tear a Time’ has already become a proper earworm of ours.

2. James Holt

Moving out to the borough of Bolton, local singer-songwriter James Holt has something very old school about his sound that we can never quite place – sometimes it’s almost a bit Cat Stevens, other times it’s Jimmy Webb, Elvis Costello and even Beatles or Lennon at the very least. All we know is we like it.

There’s just lots of twinkly 1960s and ’70s throwback about it and he’s had some serious praise from legends like Brian Eno and as you sweep through his expansive style, it’s easy to see why. A vintage look and sound paired with a bloody great hairdo and what do you get? One of the coolest artists in Greater Manchester.

It’s hard to recommend one particular place to begin but we’ll do our best; start with ‘Pendulum’, then his biggest tune ‘Mystery Girl’ and then we have a soft spot for ‘Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?’ because the little melody in it sounds a bit like ‘Keep on Movin” by Five — we can’t unhear it and now neither will you.

Falling deeper in love this one the more we hear it too.

3. Dr Dr

A bit of a whiplash turn now with Manchester post-punk outfit Dr Dr, who recently played a superb set at Disorder that we’ve not stopped thinking about for a while.

Led by charismatic and supremely energetic frontman Fred Farrell, they give off a little bit of The Blues Stones, Royal Blood and plenty of other contemporary British rock; it’s fast-paced, great to bounce to and there’s some great electronics and distortion at work that really helps hit their style home.

Still early in their career and with only five tracks out so far, we’re just going to go ahead and tell you to give them all a listen but we will say that their latest single ‘Uppercut’ has had love from XS Manchester, BBC Introducing, Radio One and more – let’s just say can firmly put us on that list if admirers too.

4. M60

No-nonsense Manc indie at its finest. If you like fast rhythmic guitars, a great live BPM, reliable vocals and that instantly familiar feeling that only Northern bands like this can deliver, then M60 need to be in your rotation.

‘I Don’t Mind’ may be their biggest tune and it’s undeniably catchy no matter how many times we hear it, but our other two picks simply have to be ‘Honey’ and our day one favourite ‘Darling’. Honestly, that’s a sing your lungs out and jump up and down with your mates kind of tune.

They’re also currently spearheading a very funny campaign to keep getting their name out there and it involves Gary Neville. We sincerely want them to succeed and have every faith they will.

5. Everything Everything

And the last spot this week could be no other: Manc alternative legends Everything Everything, fresh off having sat with their latest record, Mountainhead, for a good month now and boy is it a belter.

These guys have set a pretty high bar when it comes to albums over the years and Raw Data Feel was one of our most-played albums of 2022, but this might genuinely have some of their best work to date. ‘The End of the Contender’, ‘Don’t Ask Me To Beg’, ‘Enter the Mirror’ – all absolute rammers.

Stockport locals were honoured with their presence at a very special gig at The Plaza earlier this month and we’re still kicking ourselves for missing the ticket window. If you haven’t listened to these extremely experimental and immensely creative musicians before, rectify that mistake pronto and thank us later.

And there we have it, another month and a handful of amazing local artists from around the region and the best part is, since we do music so well around these parts, you already know there’ll be plenty more to get stuck into next time.

Speaking of which, you can find the Greater Manchester acts we picked out for February down below and you best believe you’ll be seeing us back here same time again next month.

Happy listening!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press Image/James Holt (via IG)/The Manc Audio

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