HOTWAX RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ‘HOT SHOCK’

Hastings trio HotWax celebrate the release of their debut album Hot Shock, out now via Marathon Artists.

The band are mid-way through a string of in store dates to celebrate the record’s release, including a hometown at Resident Brighton tonight and Rough Trade East next week on Tuesday 11th March, as Hot Shock is named as Rough Trade’s Album of the Month. Hot Shock is available now in three distinct coloured vinyl editions, each inspired by the band members’ hair (‘The Tallulah’ in black with a blonde stripe, ‘The Alfie’ in gold, and a Rough Trade exclusive ‘The Lola’ in bright orange). Following their instores, the band will continue on the road across the UK and Europe, visiting as many new towns and cities as possible. Full live dates can be found below.

The release of the record is also accompanied by a brand new video for ‘Strange To Be Here’ –  directed by singer Tallulah Sim-Savage – which is available to watch below.

After being crowned as the UK’s most hotly-tipped independent band of 2024 [Record of the Day], HotWax’s debut album follows the release of two critically acclaimed 2023 EPs that launched the touring Hastings trio to ever bigger stages, playing over 200 blistering live shows in the past 18 months alone, including festivals Reading + Leeds, Mad Cool, All Points East, and Download, as well as support tours with Royal Blood, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Deap Vally and more. It’s the band’s incredible stagecraft and seemingly limitless energy that caught the attention of producer Catherine Marks (Boygenius, Wolf Alice) at Third Man Records’ Blue Basement last summer; “It was the sweatiest gig we have ever done – it was really, really packed,” explains Tallulah “Afterwards, Catherine came up to us and said, ‘Oh my god, I need to record your album with you. I want it to sound like the energy in this room. It needs to feel like a party.’”           
                                               
The band went on to build an all-female team to record Hot Shock, with Marks co-producing alongside Steph Marziano (Picture Parlour, Cassandra Jenkins), bringing a crowd of the band’s friends into London’s legendary RAK Studios to record a live runthrough of the new record – perfectly capturing the distinct, dizzying energy of a HotWax gig. While touring the US, the band also recorded with Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa at her studio in Joshua Tree.
 
The result is an album made to be played to a crowd, loud and with abandon. But there’s also a beating pulse of vulnerability underscoring Hot Shock, written throughout the whirlwind of life on the road. “Touring and constantly living in the moment can be chaotic. But there’s also a feeling of knowing that the more life experience we gain, the more fearless we become” explains bassist Lola Sam. Although Hot Shock may traverse the unsettling terrain that comes with entering young adulthood, there’s also a sense of playful abandon that is never far behind. Childhood friends Sim-Savage and Sam have been writing together since they were 12, before the latter met drummer Alfie Sayers at music college five years later.
 
A Thousand Times EP lead single ‘Treasure’ reached the BBC Radio 6 Music B-List as well as a ‘Next Wave’ on BBC Radio 1, with the two EPs earning widespread support from The Sunday Times, The Independent, NME, Dork, DIY, CLASH and many more. Tallulah, Lola, and Alfie are ripping up the template and ripping up stages across the UK. Having only recently left school, their rarified live energy and sound has already won the support of Beck, Karen O, Courtney Love, Pete Doherty, Wolf Alice, Elton John, Zane Lowe and more.
 
Despite having been launched onto festival mainstages while still in their teens, HotWax are here for the long ride and show no signs of slowing down. In fact, Hot Shock is only the beginning.

HotWax Live Dates:

March 3, Music’s Not Dead, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea – Instore
March 4, Slice of Vinyl, Gosport – Instore
March 7, Resident, Brighton – Instore
March 8, Rough Trade Nottingham (Midday) – Instore
March 8, Rough Trade Liverpool (Evening) – Instore
March 9, Rough Trade, Bristol – Instore
March 10, Vinyl Whistle, Leeds – Instore
March 11, Rough Trade East, London – Instore
March 12, Vinilo, Southampton – Instore
March 13, Truck, Oxford – Instore
March 20, Trix (Bar), Antwerp
March 22, EKKO, Utrecht
March 24, MTC, Cologne 
March 25, Urban Spree (Rough Trade), Berlin
March 26, Hafenklang, Hamburg
March 28,  Where Else?, Margate
March 30, Forum, Tunbridge Wells
March 31, Face Bar, Reading
April 1, Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes
April 3, Polar Bear, Hull
April 4, Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow (Random Rules)
April 5, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh (Random Rules)
April 6, The Georgian Theatre, Stockton-On-Tees
April 7, Kanteena, Lancaster 
April 9, DeadWax, Birmingham
April 10, Bunkhouse, Swansea
April 11, Burdall’s Yard, Bath
May 31, Temple Newsam Park, Leeds, Kaiser Chiefs + Cribs All Dayer

 

 

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