BY STUART GLOSSOP
GRAMMY award-winning American rock duo The Black Keys will headline Sounds Of The City 2025 on Millennium Square as part of their upcoming UK & European tour. Upon release in April 2024, The Black Keys secured the #1 Current Rock Album and #1 Current Alternative Album in US sales with their twelfth studio album Ohio Players, which also earned them their sixth consecutive top 20 album in the UK. The album track “Beautiful People (Stay High”) was recently nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song Grammy Awards. With an emphasis on collaboration, the album features contributions from friends and colleagues, including Beck, Noel Gallagher, Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Greg Kurstin, Juicy J, Lil Noid, and others. Joining The Black Keys as special guest for their UK dates is English singer and musician Miles Kane. Millennium Square 8th July
Shed Seven return to Millennium Square as part of the renowned Sounds of the City concert series. Joining them on the bill will be Liverpool legends Lightning Seeds and Sheffield indie favourites, The Sherlocks. Hailing from York, Shed Seven released their debut album Change Giver in 1994, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Emerging as one of the big hitters during the heyday of Britpop, their catalogue leading to seven top 20 hits including classics such as Going For Gold, Chasing Rainbows, Disco Down and On Standby as well as six top 10 albums. The band’s orchestral album Liquid Gold reached the number one spot, their second number one album of 2024 following A Matter of Time which soared to the top of the UK albums charts. Shed Seven are one of only 20 artists to achieve this incredible milestone. Millennium Square July 11th
From the opening seconds of “Life Is,” it’s clear that Here in the Pitch is a very different kind of album from Jessica Pratt. The revered Los Angeles artist has become one of the most singular and distinctive songwriters of her generation, largely through the bewitching sound of her acoustic guitar and vocals: a mystical, elusive blend that conjures deep emotional responses from her devoted (and patient) audience. To introduce her first release in half-a-decade, however, she greets us with neither her breathtaking vocals nor the delicate, sophisticated strum of her guitar. Instead, Pratt’s fourth album begins with a percussion roll that nods instantly to the grand, orchestral style of ’60s pop hits like the Walker Brothers’ “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” Howard Assembly Room 18th July
Formed in 2002, Funeral For A Friend have released numerous critically acclaimed albums and toured extensively both domestically and internationally. This brand new live show promises to be a journey through their beloved and sizeable discography. This follows their major 2023 tour which celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut album Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation, which cemented them as one of the most important rock bands of their generation and included their massive breakthrough singles ‘Juneau ‘and ‘She Drove Me to Daytime Television’. Joining them on the bill for an all-Welsh lineup is recently reunited post-hardcore stars The Blackout, rock powerhouse Casey and heavy metal supergroup Kill The Lights. O2 Academy 18th July
The Berlin-based, Swiss-born singer Anna Erhard released her highly anticipated third album Botanical Garden in September 2024 and was celebrated by the press throughout Europe. In the UK, BBC 6Music supported the singer with heavy rotation airplay. Her songs, somewhere between the spirit of Kurt Vile and early Beck, are an eclectic mix of distorted guitars and lo-fi keyboards. With characteristic nonchalance, she performs mischievous lyrics, setting her everyday life and her wanderings to music. Brudenell Social Club 19th July
Lowpines is a band led by songwriter and producer Oli Deakin. Describing his sound as ‘very quiet indie rock’, Lowpines has released several albums over the years, and contributed songs to several movie and TV soundtracks. A new album, alongside various collaborations, is planned for 2026. His music sits firmly in the haunting folk rock genre, Lowpines is melodic, lulling and low key miserable – in a good way of course. Hyde Park Book Club, 22nd July
