RAEGAN

Alt pop three-piece from the UK, 100% DIY ­– after three albums over the last decade and more than one existential crisis, the band – singer Jody Gadsden, keys player Simon Neilson and guitar/bassist Barney JC – now have 3 million+ monthly Spotify streams (150 million all-time), 800,000 monthly Spotify listeners, 95k+ Spotify followers, and 5 million monthly YouTube views thanks to the band’s track Stalker’s Tango becoming an obsession of the anime/cosplay community, and then a chart hit. Autoheart have amassed a devoted fan base across the US who identify with the band’s combination of melancholy, unbridled joy and honesty about the human condition (thanks to Essex-born and bred Jody’s unflinching lyrics). Answering the never-ending fan demands to see the band live, the band have announced their first US tour, the Love Me Love Me Love Me Tour, with 11 dates scheduled to start 15th March 2024. Their pick-and-mix approach to genres makes Autoheart tough to categorize – it’s indie guitar bops meets piano ballads, low-fi disco bangers meets sad yet epic electronic soundscapes. Their uncompromising DIY approach (they produce much of their own material, put out their music on their own OR Records imprint, make and direct videos and are entirely self-managed) is shot through with a strong LGBTQIA-positive message. As part of the London queer community they have collaborated with gender non-confirming activist Rain Dove, who starred in their Oxford Blood video, director and Dazed prize winner Joseph Wilson, a long-time co-conspirator who cast Diag Race star Black Peppa in their I Know That He Loves Me video, and female drag artists Fancy Shews, who played an Anna Nicole Smith-inspired alien in their Juggernaut video.