Messed!Up Spotlight

Few artists have made nostalgia sound quite as enormous as M83. The project of French musician Anthony Gonzalez began in Antibes in 2001, initially as a collaboration with Nicolas Fromageau, before Gonzalez gradually transformed it into his own sprawling universe of shoegaze guitars, analogue synths, electronic textures and cinematic emotion. Early records such as M83 and Dead Cities, Red Seas …

Few bands have made the art of sounding bigger than their lineup quite like Blood Red Shoes. Formed in Brighton in 2004, the duo of guitarist and vocalist Laura-Mary Carter and drummer and vocalist Steven Ansell turned the limitations of a two-piece into a powerhouse. Their music fused punk urgency, indie-rock melody, garage-rock abrasion and shoegaze atmosphere, establishing a sound …

Formed in Colchester, Essex, in 2019, The Meffs have spent the past few years turning two-person punk into something that sounds considerably bigger than the sum of its parts. Fronted by Lily Hopkins on vocals and guitar, with Lewis Copsey behind the drums and providing backing vocals, the duo have built their reputation on a ferocious live presence, politically charged …

Emerging from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, in 2015, Movements quickly established themselves as one of the most emotionally charged forces in modern post-hardcore. Built around vocalist Patrick Miranda, guitarist Ira George, bassist Austin Cressey and drummer Spencer York, the Southern California quartet fused jagged guitars, muscular rhythms and atmospheric melodies with lyrics that refused to hide from vulnerability. Their 2016 …