Voka Gentle

With three albums already under their belt, the London band (William J. Stokes and twins Imogen and Ellie Mason) have long been associated with a restless strain of experimental pop, balancing melodic instinct with a taste for disruption. Leaning into motorik electronics, psychedelia and experimental sound design, their songs rarely settle where you expect them to, favouring left-turns over neat payoffs – pop music that never quite finds its footing.

That approach is clear across their latest album Domestic Bliss, which leans into eccentric choices and moments of deliberate friction. Textures feel unstable and off-kilter, with stray sounds and found details (a binaural recording of Morris dancers, anyone?) folded into the songs. ‘Cheddar Man’ and ‘K Sees The Deal Go Down’ sketch out a world that feels both playful and unsettled, while ‘Ultra Aura Glow’, featuring Scottish songwriter Hamish Hawk, introduces an unexpected vocal counterweight that works beautifully, Hawk himself on a strong run following 2024’s A Firmer Hand.

Its album less interested in statements than in friction – music that refuses to be tied in a bow. It’s a long-held approach for the band, and one that’s drawn a lot of praise from the likes of Loud And Quiet as well as their musical peers. That includes The Flaming Lips, who invited Voka Gentle to open for them in London, ahead of a Wayne Coyne collab shortly after.

Other recent collaborators include cult folk chanteuse BELLS, who both appear on Voka Gentle’s acclaimed second album WRITHING! (“one of the underground albums of the year” – Loud And Quiet), co-produced with Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs guitarist Sam Grant.