We Speak Music

ZKELETONZ let loose a powerful burst of indie dance energy with ‘OUT!’

Published

11 months ago

October 2, 2025

Don Reed

“Vibrant 80s synth wizardry”- Wonderland Magazine.

“A beacon of artistic freedom in a landscape dominated by formulaic sounds”– Real Magazine.

“A very seductive groove…7/10”– Louder Than War

+ played by Tom Robinson (6Music Fresh Finds); BBC Radio 2; John Kennedy (X-Posure); Channel 4 Sunday Brunch (debut Music Video broadcast).

‘OUT!’ is the title track from BBC 6Music, Radio 2 & Introducing-backed Zkeletonz’ self-produced debut album—which features contributions from Alex Gopher (Daft Punk, Phoenix, Ed Banger) and Sam Wheat (Nile Rodgers, Public Enemy).

A fiercely independent band born from London’s DIY scene, Zkeletonz have grown from self-promoted warehouse parties to commanding major stages and are set to launch the album with a 500-capacity party at Camden Underworld on Friday 12th December.

Perfectly showcasing their electronic but guitar-based fusion sound “fans of LCD Soundsystem and MGMT will love” (Q Unsigned act of the week”), ‘OUT!’ is sure to light up Indie, Synth Pop and Alternative Dance-focused DSP and radio playlists as we head into party season.

It’s impossible to not get swept away in the band’s feverish, diva-ish goodness on this glittering, hard-hitting banger, which shows off the kind of insane party vibes that you’ll be able to expect at the Camden Underworld launch night and the type of mercilessly catchy anthems that abound in the debut Zkeletonz album.

The full LP ‘OUT!’ channels the spirits of Breakbot, Phoenix, Daft Punk’s ‘Homework’, and classic Ed Banger French Touch, but from a UK perspective. With a distinctively stylish and ironic edge, the band’s synth-fuelled indie style is at full power on this title track single, which is an intoxicating neon-lit ball of dance energy. Bouncy bass and retro drum machines drive forward relentlessly like an out-of-control rave powered steam locomotive, or a semi-regrettable Camden night out, and the track sees the band fully letting loose. It’s the perfect taster for the album of the same name.

Working independently with no established Manager, Agency or Record Label, Zkeletonz have appeared across BBC radio networks including 6Music (Fresh Finds, Tom Robinson); 5Live (session for Scott Mills & Chris Stark); Radio 2 ‘Sounds of Soul (Tony Blackburn); Introducing (Song of the Week, Band Of The Month – West Midlands) and on BBC-curated Festival stages alongside The Specials, Nile Rodgers/CHIC and the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show.

They were mentored by DJ Yoda as Wilton’s Music Hall resident Emerging Artists (Dance/Electronic) in 2021 and are alumni of the prestigious MAS Records Artist Development programme (patrons: Rickie Wilson, Kaiser Chiefs; Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin).

The band’s 2025 crowd-funded debut album ‘OUT!’, which commences a trilogy of releases set to continue in the following 2 years, is a sonic love letter to live music, London club culture and late-night events with a focus on the unique and unforgettable experience only live music can provide. The album aims to invoke the adventurous and hedonistic spirit of a by-gone but never forgotten time in musical history and the band’s lives. Think 2004’s ‘You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine’ by Death from Above, 2005’s ‘Capture/Release’ by The Rakes, and ‘Fantastic Playroom’ in 2007 by New Young Pony Club mixed up in a cosmic blender with big hitters like The Strokes, MGMT, Empire of The Sun, and more obscure cuts who were always in Zkeletonz’ headphones as young Uni students, like US electroclash legends The Faint and almost unlistenable synth-noise from Crystal Castles.

Zkeletonz launch debut album ‘OUT!’ on Sat 12^th December at Camden Underworld. Get tickets now here.

We Speak Music

Phoebe June Traces Love, Distance and Heartbreak on New EP ‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’

Published

32 minutes ago

September 11, 2026

Joni Jones

For Phoebe June, some stories are easier to tell through music.

Her new EP, ‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’, is an intimate collection that traces the emotional journey of a relationship from the exhilaration of falling in love to distance, uncertainty, heartbreak and, ultimately, learning to let go.

Inspired by artists including Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, Phoebe June combines diary-like lyricism with melancholic ballads, subtle uptempo moments and an understated, emotionally honest production style.

At the centre of the project is ‘Thursday’, a bittersweet track about loving someone from a distance and holding onto the hope that the connection might survive.

Written after Phoebe left a country that held deep personal meaning, and left someone she cared about behind, the song looks back at the relationship from its beginning. Even its title is personal: the two first met on a Thursday.

The song captures the complicated feeling of walking away from something meaningful without believing that it necessarily has to be over. It’s about distance, memory and the possibility of finding your way back to someone, while recognising that hope only works when it goes both ways.

Across six tracks, the EP develops that story in sequence.

‘Everything You Are’ opens the project with the warmth of new love, while ‘Dead Sea’ explores the security of finding someone who helps you stay afloat through difficult times. As the story progresses, ‘Thursday’ introduces separation before ‘Getaway Car’ moves into the aftermath; unanswered questions, lingering attachment and the realisation that someone can profoundly affect your life while still being unhealthy for you.

‘One Day’ leaves the door open to the possibility of a future reunion, balancing hope with the understanding that some relationships may only exist in memory.

The EP closes with ‘Ophelia’, its emotional breaking point. Inspired in part by Friedrich Heyser’s painting of the same name, the track confronts the pain of feeling manipulated and unappreciated after giving everything to someone else.

The result is a project that deliberately moves from light to dark. Phoebe June considered not only the narrative but the emotional progression when sequencing the EP, allowing the brightness of its opening to gradually give way to the heartbreak of its closing moments.

Even the title reflects that feeling.

‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’ takes its name from a flower, with the image of a gate separating two people becoming a metaphor for a love that remains beautiful but just out of reach. To reach over it requires effort, just as maintaining a connection across distance, uncertainty and changing circumstances does.

Ultimately, Phoebe June isn’t interested in simply documenting her own heartbreak.

She wants listeners to recognise themselves in it.

‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’ is a collection about love, nostalgia, hope and regret and about what remains when something beautiful ends up on the other side of the gate.