Søwt + Aqualine

Following a year of serious highs (like being asked to tour Europe with Seattle grunge legends Mudhoney) and punishing lows (the tragic immolation of the band’s legendary home base ’t Stroomhuis), Eindhoven-based noise-rock band SØWT will release their third album, “Is This The Hard Part?” in May 2025 in “DIY collaboration” with Dutch alternative labels Subroutine and Bagdaddy Records. SØWT released their successful 2023 sophomore album “Kids Hurting Kids” on vinyl to both critical and local acclaim. In fact, even before their tour with Mudhoney in 2024 the record was due to be repressed thanks to popular demand. But of course, it wouldn’t be SØWT if the pressing plant didn’t immediately go bankrupt, if the master for their record didn’t disappear, and if their longtime rehearsal space (with all of their instruments inside) didn’t then burn down… Fortunately for us all, SØWT is a band that has learned to thrive under adversity. This new record reveals a group that is by no means choosing the safe and familiar path or finding solace in self-pity. Rather, these 11 new songs revel in experimentation and possibility. With Martijn Claessens on drums, Jessie van Eiken on guitar, Koen Verhees on another guitar and Danielle Warners on bass the band ventures into new textures and approaches while maintaining their well-established knack for gut-wrenching songwriting and heavy noise-rock inspired riffs. Never has a record so indebted to a particular decade (the 1990s, natch) sounded so contemporary and so timeless. “We made a pop record,” insists the band humbly – though if this is in any way a “pop record,” it is only in that these songs are bound to live on long on repeat in your head. SUPPORT: AQUALINE Guildford-based alternative rock five-piece Aqualine are setting off for their first UK tour in support of their new EP, Tripwire . Fusing post-punk aggression, grunge, ethereal shoegaze with bold experimental flourishes, the band explores themes of mental stability, disassociation, and self-identity in young adulthood. Tripwire is a raw and emotionally charged collection that captures the chaos of intrusive thoughts and the quiet weight of imposter syndrome, all set against a dynamically enraged sonic backdrop.