THE ORIELLES – Bobbi’s Second World (live @ Green Man Festival)

Formed when they were still teenagers, the Orielles make music with the eagerness and abandon of youth, while also looking to the past for inspiration. The group’s highly danceable sound is informed by the lighter side of ’80s post-punk, the loose-limbed rhythms of Afro-funk, the trippy textures of late-’90s indie dance, and the sweet melodic sense of classic indie pop. Their debut album, 2018’s Silver Dollar Moment, saw them already in full stride as a band, and 2020’s Disco Volador expanded on their template by adding new sonic elements and a healthy dose of lyrical weirdness. The Orielles formed in Halifax, England, when sisters Sidonie B and Esmé Dee Hand-Halford met Henry Carlyle Wade at a birthday party. Still in their teens, the threesome bonded over a love of ’90s music (like the Pixies and Sonic Youth) and cinema, and began writing songs together. With Esmé on vocals and bass, Sidonie on drums, and Henry on guitar, the trio crafted a sound that brought in influences as far afield as Afro-pop, disco-funk, Madchester, and indie pop. READ MORE

[Verse 1] There’s a world that welcomes her (SHE’S A LADY NOW) As she searches for mindless fun (SHE’S A LADY NOW) Breakbeat for her groovy walk (SHE’S A LADY NOW) I think she might have found (UTOPIA)

[Pre-Chorus] There’s a new place she must liberate Inside her own head A reality less motionless

[Verse 2] Overgrown in a world unknown (WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO?) No rest for her beady eyes (FACING REALITY) Panopticism (LOOKING OVER HER) I think she might have found (DYSTOPIA)

[Pre-Chorus] Gonna step too far again She trips over her conscience A pattern hard to overcome