Tag: Hackney London UK

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: John Glacier Shares a Breezy and Hypnotic Banger

Rising Hackney-born rapper, producer and poet John Glacier released her full-length debut, last year’s critically applauded Like A Ribbon. Like A Ribbon featured a seamless blend of rap, electronic music, post-punk, ambient textures and experimental songwriting, showcasing the rising Hackney-born artist’s uniquely diaristic, stream-of-consciousness approach while quickly establishing her as an artist operating within her own lane.

The success of Glacier’s debut has also helped to catapult her into a new stratosphere within music and elsewhere. Since her debut’s release, she made her debut in British Vogue, appeared on the cover of Hypebeast and starred in Prada‘s Spring/Summer 2026 global campaign alongside Hunter Schafer, Damson Idris, Carey Mulligan, Nicholas Hoult and the cover of HommeGirls. Her reputation as a fashionista has been further cemented with collaborations and appearances with leading houses — including Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Lacoste, Gucci, Bogetta Veneta, JW Anderson and Fendi.

Musically, she has collaborated with a growing and eclectic list of artists across different genres, including Blondshell, MJ Cole, Montell Fish and dj gummy bear, Jadasea and Jamie xx.

The rising multidisciplinary talent is building upon a rapidly growing profile with the Take A Daytrip co-produced “Bond Girl,” the first bit of new material since last year’s Like A Ribbon. Bult with a breezy yet propulsive pulse and tweeter and woofer rattling low end paired with dense layers of twinkling and oscillating synth melodies beneath Glacier’s coolly swaggering delivery, “Bond Girl” is a hypnotic, club friendly banger that channels Ibiza with a pop-leaning accessibility. “Bond Girl” to me captures a bold, rising artist, who’s about to put the game in a chokehold — and in her own terms.

Directed by Léa Ceheivi, the accompanying video for “Bond Girl” is fittingly inspired by classic spy thrillers and stars the rising Hackney-born artist as a stylish and enigmatic secret agent, who’s both a heroine and a villain. Effortlessly maneuvering through a world of intrigue and excess, she continually find sways to evade, outsmart and triumph over rivals and others attempting to take what’s hers.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: French Nancy Shares Broodingly Chilly “The Guarantee”

Hackney, London-based post-punk duo French Nancy — Jack Gooding and Joel Friel — features former members of Bear Muda and Paris, Texas. Drawing from Motorama, Black Marble, Topographies, The Cure, Joy Division and New Order, the London-based duo’s sound pairs post punk urgency with krautrock-inspired rhythms and introspective lyricism.

The duo’s latest single “The Guarantee” is anchored around a similar krautrock-like motorik pulse and reverb-soaked guitar attack as their previously released “The Vow” and “The Lovers” but while arguably being one of the broodingly chillier songs they’ve released to date with the single seemingly nodding at the likes of Soft Kill, Molchat Doma, PLOHO, Sei Still, Whispering Sons and others. “It’s a song about staying inside a negative feeling rather than trying to fix it, and the production matches: opening cold and lean, with each layer adding to its final angry crescendo,” the duo explain.

Written and recorded at Hackney-based Gun Factory Studios by the duo, “The Guarantee” makes the start of the band’s most prolific stretch to date, with the band planning to release a batch of singles over the next five months, ahead of a forthcoming UK tour later this year.