ladylike

Brighton quartet ladylike have signed to cult label Heist or Hit (Her’s, Westside Cowboy) and announce their debut EP It’s A Pleasure Of Mine, to Know You’re Fine for March 13th. New single ‘Rome (in progress)’ is out now with the announcement.

The new single delicately treads the tightrope between folk and post-rock – evidence of the particular kind of quiet the four piece inhabit: Natural, controlled, and brimming with a subtle euphoria, it speaks to renewal, growth and repair.

The quartet — Georgia Butler (vocals, guitar), Spencer Withey (vocals, guitar, synth), James Ely (drums), and Archie Sagers (six-string bass) serve their folk rare: raw and pastoral, but with a side of textural, atmospheric builds directly wired into the tensions of the modern world. It’s a formula that has gained them slots at Green Man; Left Of The Dial; The Great Escape; and Dot To Dot, plus support slots with Ugly, Mary in the Junkyard and Lime Garden. Early champions at radio and press include KEXP, BBC 6 Music, Apple 1, Radio X, DIY, So Young, and Rough Trade.

After soft-launching the idea of starting a project together at End of the Road, the band’s initial practices took place in a recital room on a brutalist university campus. A setting that, on the surface, is wildly at odds with the rural authenticity of their sound. Pause and look, however, and the campus may have seeped its way into the architectural structures of their songs, with an emphasis on functionality, honesty, and the incorporation of rougher textures and exposed materials. The alchemy lies in the band’s ability to marry those spaces, and when raw elements meet modernity, they absolutely soar.

The band’s forthcoming debut EP was recorded with producer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, Perfume Genius, PJ Harvey). It captures the quiet urgency that has always been ladylike’s hallmark. Across four tracks, they explore cycles renewal, and the beauty of persistence, finding poetry in English idioms and the banality of the mundane.

On lead single ‘Rome (in progress)’ specifically, they explain:

“‘Rome (in progress)’ is about building a livelihood or community and how that isn’t as smooth sailing as you may think, but it’s still the ideal place for you. It’s introspective but existentially reflects the present time. Whilst lyrically minimal, the song focuses on reimagining two of those strange but common English idioms, which tends to be a theme across our songwriting; ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ & ‘many hands make for light work’.”