Bristol-based desert rock outfit PEACH — founding members Andy Sutor (drums) and Jean-Paul “JP” Jacyshyn (guitar), Tim Cooke (baritone guitar) and No Violet‘s Ellie Godwin (vocals) — can trace their origins back to 2019: Founding members Sutor and Jacyshyn started work on ideas for the band inspired by their shared love of Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey, Eleven and others. Soon after recruiting Cooke, initial song ideas stared to take shape but progress was inevitably stifled as a result of the pandemic.
PEACH’s lineup was finalized in 2021 when Godwin, who brought along writing and vocal influences like Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley was recruited. Taking their ideas to the rehearsal room, the newly-constituted quartet pulled together a hard hitting set of songs. After a drawn out inception, they believed that material deserved — and needed — to be recorded.
With a handful of singles under their collective belts, the Bristol-based outfit have been championed by BBC Radio 1‘s Daniel P. Carter, Noizze, James Scarlett and BBC Radio Wales‘ Adam Walton. They’ve also earned opening slots for bands like Mclusky, LIFE, Chiyoda Ku, Skin Failure, and CLT DRP — and a set at last year’s ArcTanGent Festival.
The Bristol-based quartet’s Peter Miles-produced nine-song, self-titled, full-length debut is slated for a September 30, 2023 release. Recorded live-to-tape with minimal overdubs in Devon‘s Middle Farm Studios, the album sees the band staying true to their original influences while capturing the raw energy, thunderous drumming, emotive powerhouse vocals and heavy dirge-like guitar riffs. Thematically, the album’s material reportedly sees the band exploring boundaries, comfort zones, change and moments of clarity in relationships with an unvarnished honesty.
The self-titled album’s first single “Already There” is a ripper built around Godwin’s furious, powerhouse delivery, scorching dirge-like, power chord-driven riffs, thunderous drumming and enormous shout-along worthy hooks and chorus. Sonically bringing PJ Harvey, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age and others to mind, “Already There” discusses the awareness of being manipulated and the bitter feelings that come with that relationship — and it does so with the earnest, unvarnished honesty that can only come from personal experience.
“’Already There’ is about a growing awareness of being manipulated – that guttural feeling of unease, exhausted and perplexed thoughts, repeatedly striving to be a better version of oneself,” the members of PEACH explain. “As you move through the circular notion of this song, its growling and sludgy behaviours are profound. ‘Already There’ eventually leads to the intertwining of the spiralling vocals and the jagged guitar solo, projecting the emotion of the track to a pinnacle point of defeat.”
Directed by studio other types‘ Charlotte Gosch and IDLES’ Lee Kiernan, who are also both part of the film production company Holding Hands with Horses, the accompanying video features the band in Brady Brunch-like squares with colored strobe lights singing the song’s hook, split with footage of a romantic couple having a bitter, drawn-out fight. The video captures and evokes the fury and shame at the core of the song.
