The Redroom hail from Newcastle – and are now based in Manchester – but are they indie or are they soul? (Answer: they’re both.)

Despite their tender years (lead singer Jessica Lewis-Ward is still only 21), The Redroom have been bubbling under for a couple of years now, releasing a clutch of excellent singles and winning support from the likes of BBC 6 Music, Radio X and (ahem) The Crack. They’ve also played huge festivals such as Hardwick Festival, supporting the likes of CHIC, and in 2023 they took their Reading & Leeds festival bow alongside The Killers and The 1975. They spent 2024 writing new material and the first fruits of their endeavours have certainly paid off with the release of their awesome ‘The Fear’ single. A full-bodied, hook-laden, disco-dusted groover, with a stunning vocal from Lewis-Ward, it sees the band really hitting their straps. Lewis-Ward: “The Fear was written after a pretty heavy night out, one of my first in Manchester. When we first moved here I went out a lot and would experience the inevitable ‘beer fear’: that all too familiar dread about last night’s actions.” But boozy nights sometimes have excellent consequences, too, and this single is one of them. DP

The Redroom, Saturday 26 April, Newgate Social, Newcastle, 8pm, £11, newgatesocial.co.uk