The Year According To Moths and Giraffes: 2024
Ok, we’ll level with you. It was a quieter year than expected at Moths and Giraffes HQ. It’s been something of a transitional year, but it doesn’t mean it’s any less of a good year for music than it has been in the past! Here we’ll tell you about the artists we reviewed and interviewed, plus the records and gigs we heard and loved.
Reaching into the upper echelons of music stardom, we were treated as long-term fans to the return of Linkin Park with a new line-up and album that easily sits alongside their classic works. Following their ‘From Zero’ campaign has been a joy and revelatory experience. Similarly, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd came back rejuvenated with his latest album, ‘Luck and Strange’, and ‘Lives Outgrown’ from Portishead’s Beth Gibbons reminded us how fragile life can be. Concert appearances from all three artists are among our personal highlights from this year.
On the subject of gigs, we were treated to Glaswegian legends Simple Minds at The o2 Arena, and finally got to meet the members of Grey Daze in Nottingham after writing about their career in 2023. We caught Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium, saw Nina Nesbitt perform her earthy new album ‘Mountain Music’ and witnessed the chaos of Lauryn Hill and The Fugees performing in London for the first time in nineteen years.
Later in the year, we were floored by performances of songs from the incredible ‘My Light, My Destroyer’ album by Cassandra Jenkins at the rustic EartH Theatre. Across 2024, we also visited the Royal Albert Hall several times for the BBC Proms, Gladys Knight, Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and Pink Floyd drummer’s band Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets.
But those weren’t our only visits to the iconic Albert Hall. For the first time, we ventured into The Elgar Room, the venue within the venue for a debuting of a collaboration through time by Roxanne de Bastion and her grandfather Stephen de Bastion. This musical partnering is a result of Roxanne telling Stephen’s extraordinary story of life before the Second World War and his fight for survival in and out of Hungary in the 1940’s.
The book is called ‘The Piano Player of Budapest’, and its accompanying album is a combination of authentic historic artifact and adventurous co-songwriting spanning decades. Drawn together by modern technology and genuine curiosity, the triple whammy of reading the book, hearing the album and its music brought to life in concert was an unforgettable experience this year. Roxanne de Bastion would go on to release her fantastic four-track ‘Ultraviolet’ EP, featuring songs debuted during her Green Note residency in 2023.
Many other friends of Moths and Giraffes have had a busy year releasing new music and performing, including London duo Just Kids who’ve put out three of their most emotionally hard-hitting singles so far. ‘i swear’ is the latest of these new tracks from Rachel Still and Maxie Cheer. Their self-promoted event at The Lexington with Junodef and Casual Wednesday back in September was a big success! We later saw drummer Maxie killing it with a one night only performance of Bronski Beat’s ‘The Age of Consent’ featuring a spectacular all LGBTQ+ performing ensemble. This is a show that should undoubtedly be touring.
2024 also saw the return of German band Chandeen, with a single we’ve not been able to put down called ‘The Bubbles Blown’ featuring Amsterdam songwriter Chris Richter. The track is taken from their forthcoming new album ‘The Last Glimpse Of Your Life’ and we can’t wait to hear it!
Musing on loss and recovery, having devoured her discography since writing about her debut album ‘Where Shall We Begin’, Chloe Foy returned with a new single, the quietly despairing ‘Spare’. In the jazz world, band leader Claire Cope crowdfunded the release of her forthcoming second album as Ensemble C called ‘Every Journey’. She describes the record as, ‘having courage to take a step towards something and to kind of leap into the unknown.’ We look forward to its release in 2025!
The tireless work of artist and producer Jeremy Warmsley has led to the release of the soundtrack to ‘Witches’, a film by Elizabeth Sankey that explores her own experiences of post-partum anxiety, depression and psychosis. Linking this to treatment of women in the past, the film has received rave reviews, winning the Best Feature Documentary at the British Independent Film awards.
Elsewhere, Charlie Deakin Davies became an alien for their Charlieeeee project, signing with Relentless Records and releasing their ‘DOG BOWL’ EP. The drum and bass fusion tracks saw them collaborating with piri and Ellie Dixon, plus touring with Food House across the UK. After releasing her ‘In Case Of Emergency’ EP with Decca Records in 2023, Ellie Dixon candidly spoke of the pressures put on her by the label and how important it is for artists to take a break. She’s since returned with a strong visual aesthetic for her independent single ‘Renaissance’, a track that celebrates her excitement for her own creative future.
We drifted away into the ether to the sound of Yellow Belly returning with the atmospheric and personal ‘Ghostwriter’ album. The record was the subject of discussion when Yellow Belly joined BBC Radio Wales back in August. We look forward to seeing the music video for ‘Holding The Space’, shot on a trip to Iceland!
The London-based duo of YOVA (Jova Radevska and Mark Vernon) continued putting out great work this year with their second album ‘Dreamcatchers’. The record includes ‘Hurt Like No Hurt’, a track we interviewed the duo about in 2023. Of the song, Mark said, ‘I wanted to create a foundation which was both raw and high energy on one level and cinematic and expansive on the other for Jova.’
The trio of Mary In The Junkyard are also on a roll, releasing their debut EP ‘This Old House’ on vinyl in the summer, as well as playing their first shows in New York and appearing in the NME. Congratulations go to Welsh singer/songwriter Hannah Grace, who has recently been awarded support from the Women Make Music Fund from the PRS Foundation – meaning that her 2025 will be jam-packed with music and gigs. This begins with her biggest headline tour to date in the Spring!
After receiving significant support from BBC Introducing and heading to Glastonbury with her band, Maya Lakhani has closed out 2024 with her new single, ‘Drive Into The Sunset’. The track features her trademark mixture of powerful songwriting and big rock production, with more on the way in 2025! Maya’s injected that same energy into a cover of our favourite Christmas song, ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ for BBC Introducing Sussex and Surrey, which is surely going to get a full release next year, right?
Image Credit: Moths and Giraffes. Artistry by YVA.
We massively enjoyed seeing YVA’s headline gig at The Grace in London where she played selections from her ‘Hype Machine’ EP, as well as new songs from her forthcoming debut album. One thing we’ve loved doing in 2024 is connecting in person with the artists we’ve been chatting to over the years. We might not have gotten a photo together in a hasty hello, but we did snap this photo of YVA’s scathing redesign of merch from the past. Should’ve bought it.
Finally, although we couldn’t be there in person, it was awesome to see Chorusgirl returning to the stage in London at Nunhead’s Ivy House. This is an artist that belongs on the live scene. Come back again soon Silvi!
We wish we’d been able to write about all this great music for Moths and Giraffes in 2024. But what about the music we did write about?
‘I was trying to be intentional along the way about finding a hopeful direction and finding the beauty and lessons in the really hard stuff. I needed music that was hopeful, so that’s what I was trying to make. And sometimes I just didn’t have that in me. I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t put it in, and I’d step away until I felt like I could access it again. I’m practicing letting struggles come out of my body in other ways - dancing, running, etc - because sometimes I just don’t have the words and I can tear myself up trying to find them, and sometimes they can just be in the energy of the music and not the lyrics.’ – Angie McMahon
Having previously written about Angie McMahon’s ‘Piano Salt’ EP in 2020 and our journey to finding her music, we were delighted to be able to write about and interview Angie for her second album, ‘Light, Dark, Light Again’. Upon previewing the album, it was clear it was to be McMahon’s best work yet, and in the months following, we grew enormously attached to this record and its message.
Here’s what we had to say back in January: “…this is an album about life. Vibrant, wonderful, passionate, cherished life. It's an album that takes a stand against our bleakest moments and says, 'I Am Already Enough!' It’s about picking yourself up to work through the hardest times.”
It’s rare to have connected with an album on such a personal level, and we’re pleased to say this has since become one of our top five most viewed articles since the start of Moths and Giraffes in 2020. We later caught Angie and her band performing the album at EartH Hall in August to a crowd as moved as I was. She’s since released a companion EP to the album called ‘Light Sides’ and been sampled for a second time by Fred again.. for a song called ‘light dark light’ taken from the album’s closing track, ‘Making It Through’.
‘I’m so happy with how this year’s stream went. As well as a host of wonderful returning artists, we also got the pleasure of introducing some new ones. On top of that, we raised $348 for a very good cause. I hope everybody watching left the stream with a highlight; a song they’re going to find later, a gig they’ll attend, and the satisfaction of doing good.’ – Cayt W (Charitindie Organiser)
In 2024 we were able to document for a second year in a row the wonderful work of the Charitindie Collective and the annual livestream, this time in support of the Sunrise Movement, a climate crisis organisation based in the United States. Many artists from the first livestream returned to perform again including Secret Pigeon, Count to Ten with Nobody (now making music under the name Gym Socks), Jeremy M, Copeland James, Scullin Bonez, Uncle Emmington, Ellis Piper, Brianna Carmel (with Blooming Heads), Pacing and Tarquin Alexandra.
Charitindie Organiser Cayt W also returned to play a set in a glitch (?) of faulty wiring (?) and/or internet connection (?) or camera trouble. We also had some new faces in Dullan, Mari Dangerfield and closing the livestream was New Zealand artist Beth Torrance. Some of the Charitindie Collective even previewed some new music, of which the artists have given in droves this year!
Charitindie 2024 collage by Cayt W.
Top (left to right): Secret Pigeon, Dullan, Mari Dangerfield, Gym Socks, Jeremy M, Cayt W, Copeland James and Scullin Bonez.
Bottom (left to right): Uncle Emmington, Ellis Piper, Blooming Heads, Pacing, Tarquin Alexandra and Beth Torrance.
Secret Pigeon has had a busy year putting out two EPs! The first, ‘Homing’ was released prior to Charitindie 2024 and featured cuts as part of their setlist, while their latest, ‘Building Houses’ was a new collection for the summer. Jeremy M also released his coming-of-age EP, ‘is it too late?’ which includes a dream collaboration with Tarquin Alexandra.
Speaking of Tarquin, her sound went back in time for her sensational album ‘The Contortionist’, while Copeland James released a new-but-old-song called ‘Garden of Secrets and Goodbyes’, with both artists playing this new material on the livestream. Uncle Emmington is actually releasing their brand-new EP the same day this is being published! It’s called ‘Prophecies’ and features their popular track, ‘I Just Like Being a Piece of Furniture in Your Weird Life (The Furniture Song)’, which they also played on our livestream this year!
For Charitindie 2024, Ellis Piper played a trio of brand-new songs, which would later be released as part of her ‘Adjacent to Alright’ album. The styling of this record is like the soundtrack to a ‘Life Is Strange’ videogame that hasn’t been released yet. The perpetually writing, recording and performing Brianna Carmel has released a myriad of music this year, including their folk punk EP ‘Bri Earned the Power of Self-Respect’, which was pressed up on cassette with the help of Warm Robot Records.
In October, Pacing put out a covers EP entitled ‘pretty filthy (covers)’ including her previously released take on ‘stacy’s mom’. She also wrote a popular original duet with Melody Caudill of Career Woman called ‘Boyfriends’ and the solo ‘tortilla chip bag song’, built around reciting the back of a bag of tortilla chips, set to light accompaniment.
Having performed a couple of new songs in her set, Beth Torrance released the pastoral six-track EP ‘Tiny Flowers’. Of its title track, we said back in April, ‘we’ve never heard such emotion poured into acoustic instruments.’
And finally, we got to meet Dullan at a self-organised reunion with his Forthlin Road musical companions Humm, Emily Theodora and Serena Itoo. It was a fantastic evening of musical talent at London’s Green Note in Camden, with Dullan playing some of the songs we heard on the Charitindie livestream.
If you’re an artist who wants to perform as part of Charitindie 2025 in the summer, send an email to ‘charitindie@gmail.com’ with the subject line “Charitindie ‘25 Submission”. The email should include a sample of your music (preferably performed live or as you would on a livestream) and a short bio.
‘Since having kids it’s given me a bit of a fresh perspective on my life so far. I think it’s important to embrace our past selves, and realise how they have shaped our present. Music has been a constant thread in my life for as long as I can remember, and so it’s intertwined with all sorts of stages and events that I’ve been through. I suppose I’m piecing things together to better understand who I am now and where I’m at.’ – Hannah Lou Clark
In April, we charted Hannah Lou Clark’s first single release since 2020 entitled ‘Elbows’. The track and its lyrics took us right back to being a teenager as we wrote, ‘I'm standing up in my kitchen listening to this song only for the second time and suddenly I'm 16 and it’s 2007 and I'm watching Kerrang! again.’ The theme of loss is prevalent in ‘Elbows’, not only in mortality but also in the people moving through your life. The track made us feel nostalgic too, ‘How uncomplicated it was to be in a park with your mates, sharing laughs and music, scribbling your favourite lyrics on your hands.’
Since then, Hannah has released two more singles, ‘Radio Silence’ and ‘Biggest Complaint’. All three songs appear on Hannah’s long-awaited debut album in her own name. ‘How To Unlearn Yourself’ will be released in March and we can’t wait to hear it!
‘This one was fun in particular because the guitar line Nathan sent had such a strong mood to it. Yearning and melancholy. I felt transported by it and that inspired me to get into a place of cosmic heartbreak with the lyrics. At first the whole song was pretty quiet and acoustic, but we felt like the emotions needed to bloom in the second section, so we added the drum and the choir. If there’s one thing that’s typical of our songwriting, it’s that we do love a choir.’ – Ruthie Prillaman
Our final artist in 2024 came in the summer when we wrote about the sibling duo of Small Fools. Operating at opposite ends of the United States, Ruthie and Nathan Prillaman infuse their music with a broad knowledge of both history and theory, combining it with modern musical experiments. In June, we wrote about their latest single, ‘Violet’. Here’s what we had to say:
“‘Violet’ is all at once folk, renaissance, classical and the ageless human condition. It could be performed by choirs, folk trios or a teenager with a ukulele, such is the wide appeal of this band.”
Small Fools have kept up their productivity in 2024, continuing by releasing the folk baroque ‘Tree of Life’, and the infectious ‘Melt In The Sun’ featuring the topical line, ‘I am never gonna be a man with a warhead, I am never gonna make a fortune for my soul.’ Most recently, the duo have released a winter solstice song called ‘Bone to Bone’ direct from the Small Fools history pool with lyrics ‘adapted from the second Merseburg charm, a medieval pre-Christian healing spell.’
A quieter year for Moths and Giraffes no doubt, but a no less brilliant year for music once again. Thank you for continuing to read our articles going all the way back to 2020 and for supporting music and the creative industry. On behalf of artists everywhere, if you went to a gig, bought a t-shirt, some vinyl, cassettes or CDs, or spread the word about the music you love, thank you! It means the world to a creative person to be able to connect with you.
As for Moths and Giraffes, we’ve already been getting ready for 2025. We’ll see you there!
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We have a Spotify Playlist! Featuring almost every artist we've written about on Moths and Giraffes, find some new music here.
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Did you like what you read here? Check out our previous yearly roundups!
