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Hello from LIFE HQ - we are incredibly excited to announce that we are releasing a New Album this year!

We have proudly joined the @launchpadplus family via label @eminorthrecords

This partnership further cements our Northern identity as well as embraces our love for community. 

NEW MUSIC will land this month. Subscribe to our mailer to get all our scoops first (link in bio).

Lots of love Mez, Stew, Mick and Lydia x

Photo @luke_hallett_

Announcing Launchpad+ 🚀
For the last few years we’ve been working with our supported artists to help them release records and manage their royalties… and now we’re opening up this opportunity to everyone in Yorkshire!

If you are planning a new release and want to talk through your copyright registration, find out more and get in touch at via our website

Launchpad+ is supported by Leeds City Council as part of arts@leeds and Innovation@Leeds, part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and Youth Music with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and and part of PRS Foundation's Talent Development Partnership supported by PPL.

Announcing Launchpad+ 🚀
For the last few years we’ve been working with our supported artists to help them release records and manage their royalties… and now we’re opening up this opportunity to everyone in Yorkshire!

If you are planning a new release and want to talk through your copyright registration, find out more and get in touch at via our website

Launchpad+ is supported by Leeds City Council as part of arts@leeds and Innovation@Leeds, part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and Youth Music with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and and part of PRS Foundation's Talent Development Partnership supported by PPL.

We’re excited to announce a new partnership with EMI North to establish a new record label, to sit alongside the existing Launchpad+ services - distribution, publishing and neighbouring rights management.

The new label will allow us to continue to grow those artists at a tipping point of major success, building teams and deliver more extensive campaigns.

The label will launch with the signing of Hull rapper and a leading figure in the Northern Grime & Rap scene, Chiedu Oraka (@orakald).

If you’re interested in finding out more about Launchpad+ check out the links in our header.

HerOrangeCoat - The Woodland Sessions (Studio). Released Friday 8th May 2026.

HerOrangeCoat is an indie-folk singer-songwriter from West Yorkshire, bringing melancholy to the ukulele.

This is the studio version of The Woodland Sessions. Following the funding of the woodland versions, the studio versions flesh out these initial compositions and fully realise them. Lead track, I’ve Seen a Deer is a haunting ballad about the capability of man and the power of fear, steeped in rich cello, cutting recorder, and warm vocals.

@herorangecoat

Supermaus - Out of Body (EP). Released Friday 8th May 2026.

Supermaus are a Leeds-based band formed less than a year ago after nearly a decade of knowing each other, united by a shared foundation in 90s alternative rock and a focus on making music that resonates, particularly with audiences across the North of England.

Out of Body is a five-track exploration of absence, memory, and emotional aftermath, unfolding like a cinematic long take through fractured relationships and unresolved feeling. Blending raw guitar textures with brooding, atmospheric production, Supermaus sit at the darker edge of alternative rock, drawing comparisons to PJ Harvey, The Cure and Wunderhorse.

Each track moves through a different emotional state from displacement and fixation to trauma and reclamation creating a cohesive narrative that is both intimate and expansive. Lyrically, the EP leans into vivid, image-led storytelling, where places become symbols and memory distorts reality.

Out of Body positions Supermaus as a compelling new voice in UK alternative music, combining literary lyricism with dynamic, emotionally charged soundscapes.

@supermaus__

about-faces - Glory. Released Tuesday 5th May.

Leeds indie-band about-faces release their latest single ‘Glory’.

‘Glory’ is a reflective, tongue-in-cheek look at growing up in Leeds and the quiet, inevitable drift that comes with it. “The song came from one of those strange encounters, where you see someone from a past life and it makes you realise how much time has passed without really noticing. It’s about growing up, watching people find their version of stability and figuring out where you stand in that. There’s a bit of humour in it, a bit of disbelief, but mostly it’s just me trying to make sense of how people from the same area; teenage friendship circles; can take completely different directions, and how life can change what you want from it.”

For Fans Of: Sam Fender, The War on Drugs, Gang of Youths.

@aboutfacesband

break_fold - Tracker EP. Released Friday 1st May via analog horizons / Launchpad+ / EMI North.

Ambient electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist break_fold shares his new EP Tracker via boutique electronic label analog horizons, in partnership with Launchpad+ and EMI North. Arriving alongside new single ‘Climbing Flowers’, Tracker serves as a companion piece to 2025’s Planner EP,continuing Tim Hann’s innovative sonic series exploring family, identity and memory.

One of the EP’s most expansive and emotionally resonant moments, ‘Climbing Flowers’ unfolds through softly shifting waves of sound, glistening synth figures and intricate percussive details. Opening with delicate swells and sparsely-arranged reverberated synthesizers before introducing glitchy and fragmented rhythms, the track slowly blooms into a shimmering sea of multi-layered ambience that envelops the listener from start to finish. Drawing deep inspiration from the collaborative work of legendary Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and English singer-songwriter David Sylvian, there’s a compelling contrast between the frenetic syncopated percussive beats and the long sustained drones and calm tonal elements that feature throughout.

Across the EP, break_fold ties together nods to family sayings, misheard phrases, and the small but defining details of growing up in the North East of England in the 1990s. From the playful mischief of ‘Carrying On’ and ‘Workie Ticket’, to the reflective nature of ‘Pet’, for Hann, both Planner and Tracker serve as time capsules; deeply personal yet universally resonant snapshots of childhood, family dynamics and regional identity.

Operating from his Bradford studio, break_fold has steadily carved out a distinctive space within the UK’s underground electronic landscape since debuting in 2017. With three albums and several EP releases already under his belt, the Hartlepool-raised producer’s work balances what he describes as “pessimism and optimism in equal measure”.

@break_fold_
@analoghorizons
@eminorthrecords

cyclist - the wreck. Released Friday 1st May via Esco Romanesco

Brand new Leeds project cyclist releases their debut single ‘the wreck’.

cyclist is the project of Leeds based musician Ben Parry (Shaene / Oidz) and this track is centred around his youth. “‘the wreck’ is inspired by a small rockpool my friends and I would hang out at as a teenager. It wasn’t much, but the few rocks by the polluted River Tawe were enough for us. Now that I’m older I still have that feeling of gratefulness for the smaller things. I don’t have much but I have everything I want. This is the debut because it surmises the ethos of the band pretty well. Small, comforting and memory evoking.”

For Fans Of: Beach Fossils, Women, The Clean.

@benp_arry

Mia Ramo - Pickups & Putdowns. Released Friday 1st May.

Country artist Mia Ramo releases new single ‘Pickups & Putdowns’.

Mia Ramo is a UK-based country artist bringing a fresh, modern perspective to Country music through storytelling, humour and relatable lyrics. This track is a high energy country track inspired by the worst pick-up lines in modern dating culture.

‘Pickups & Putdowns’ is made for girls nights out, pre-drinks playlists and feel good country vibes.

@miaramomusic

YOSHIZAWA - STOP START. Released Friday 1st May.

Yoshizara, a Leeds based experimental post-prog band based in Leeds, released their latest single ‘stop start.’

‘Stop Start’ is about the push and pull of everyday life. The highs of achievements, joy and ambition to the lows of everything falling apart dramatically within seconds of each other, over and over.

Yoshizawa are playing at Wharf Chambers in Leeds on Friday 22nd May.

@yoshizawawaa

goo - Oh Wow, Oh Well. Released Friday 1st May via

Keighley indie-rock band Goo have just released their debut album Oh Wow, Oh Well.

Oh Wow, Oh Well was recorded at converted chapel The Nave with producer Andy Hawkinsl; the album contains 12 tracks of high energy indie-rock with flourishes of punk, grunge and shoegaze. Their latest ‘I Like Your Style’ is “a celebration of things deemed to be “weird of “wrong” by people in our society,” says the band. “With the rise of the right-wing in politics and culture around the world, the song was initially written as a reaction to the attempted silencing of the trans community and LGBTQ+. As the lyrics progressed, the subject became broader to celebrate alternative culture in general.”

The band are playing an album launch at Hyde Park Book Club tonight (if posting on 1st May, if not the gig is 1st May) and heading out on tour afterwards.

@whoaregoo

Romy Taylor - Close To Kin. Released Friday 1st May.

Romy Taylor releases ‘Close To Kin’, her second single taken from her upcoming EP Human Nature.

Romy Taylor is an alternative pop artist that intertwines jazz, soul and heart-felt ballads. ‘Close To Kin’ is dedicated to Romy’s mum, Annie Taylor. Romy said “she is my best friend and my biggest supporter. When I was 17 she and I moved countries together so that I could pursue music. She did this because she believed in me and my potential, and I owe everything to her to this day. I get to write, make and perform the music out of her genuine belief and love for one and other. She is my ride or die, I dedicate this EP to her.”

For Fans Of: Lianna Le Havas, Eloise, Bjork.

@romytaylorr