IT’S NO exaggeration to say that The Poets have made history.
On Monday, the band firmly planted their flag in the ground in the name of accessibility in live music, at a time when the arts is under immense pressure for both makers and fans.
Just days after the release of their debut album, the band took to the stage at Brixton’s iconic O2 Academy for a sold-out show.
While the venue just this week is welcoming the likes of Robbie Williams and Halsey, and is set to see Kesha, The Vaccines, bbno$, and Example in coming weeks, Only The Poets’ show will stand out.
The band charged just £1 for tickets in a bold effort to make sure that fans were not priced out of the event, and reminiscent of their first ever gig.
The band made headline news, having since appeared on the likes of BBC News and Sunday Brunch–all in the name of making sure that fans facing endlessly increasing rises in the cost of living still have access to the bands that they love.
Frontman Tommy said ahead of the show: “We never thought we’d be doing somewhere as big as Brixton for our first album. We never thought that it would get a lot of coverage.
“What made it so much sweeter is that it really raised the conversation about live music being more accessible, that it shouldn’t be a luxury.
“There are young people who won’t get that inspiration because they can’t afford a ticket.
“People shouldn’t be choosing between weekly food shops and taking their kids to a show, so we wanted to have that conversation.
“The fact that we get to bring so much attention to that and reach people with it, makes it far bigger than us.”
Ahead of the gig, Only The Poets decided that they wanted to offer the opportunity of a lifetime–the kind that can genuinely kick-start the careers of budding musicians–to other bands working to make a living in an increasingly hostile industry.
As such, they welcomed five unsigned bands to support them in one of Reading’s own cultural icons, the Purple Turtle, for an all-out battle of the bands.
The winner would be joining them on the stage at Brixton, an honour which would eventually go to two bands: SEREN and Belle Dame.
“We would have loved the opportunity to try out for a support slot at Brixton 7 years ago, it would’ve been the most amazing thing ever–it’s our dream venue. The idea of standing up on that stage makes me want to cry.
“So to give an unsigned artist that opportunity is amazing, as well as being able to give five other bands an audience–because our fans are amazing and will do that.
“We had hundreds of people apply, and over 100 of them were local, which was brilliant to see for me as a Reading lad.”
Not only did it make history for the venue itself, but the gig also coincided with history for the band itself, as they announced at the show that their album, which dropped on Friday, January 30, had made the top ten in the midweek charts.
The album itself, And I’d Do It Again is a bold, confident, and concise strike-out from the band.
Tommy explained: “The title track is purely instrumental– we really encourage people to listen to it as an album.
“Not everyone will; people don;t always have the attention, or they might stumble upon given tracks, but that with that song we wanted to build that atmosphere early on.
“And it’s not completely a concept album, but it is to an extent, not only because it was written in such a short period of time, but also because we never wanted to sit around a table and decide to write an album.
“We wanted the songs to inform decision. We had four or five which were really cohesive and which really excited us, and they felt different to anything else we’d done, so they inspired us to finish what we did.
“They became the spine of it, and it makes sense now that they’re all together. We didn;t want too much of a mismatch.”
The songs therein each fall into one of three categories: glitter-filled, shimmering neon 80’s tracks; sultry, indulgent 90’s infused pieces; and the anthemic, ebullient indie which has become a calling card for the band.
“Bands like The Police and Prince have inspired some of the more 80s-leaning elements, and bands like The Cure and The War on Drugs have informed the more 90’s sounding influences, and then of course there’s the more millennial, almost clubby bits.
“We’re an indie pop band, but this one feels a bit more alternative than indie–but we’re great lovers of pop music, which is in such a great place right now.
“I mean you look at Oasis: they’re the coolest band in the world… but they’re a pop band. They’re almost Beatles-esque, which makes sense as they love The Beatles.
“But if you strip it down, you can see it–and why not, when that band is writing songs like Yesterday in half an hour.
“So there are definitely sprinklings of all those influences.”
While the work is polished, it also radiates an authentic charm which can only come from a band with the earnest approach that Only The Poets espouses.
“What I love is that we could sew in iPhone recordings from the studio, something which was earnest and real, stuff like the buzzer from our guitarist’s flat in the song Madeline.
“We did want that almost home-movie vibe among the songs.”
It’s been a year in the making, but, Tommy explains: “We’re always 6-months ahead, so we’ve already started working on what’s coming next beyond this period.
“If there’s something that doesn’t feel very us, or i can’t necessarily imagine people singing along with it, I don’t sit back on it.
“We let that inform how it can be brought up to that through the production–that way I don’t let too much distract from writing the song.
“We do everything in-house–the whole album was produced by two of the lads in the band along with our friend, Dan.
“It means we can keep it really cohesive, like a body of work, and there’s so many little bits which really excite us, especially as you see it come to life.”
And they’re propelled by what intrigues and enthuses them: “You have to go on your gut; if it excites you, I think it will probably excite others.
“It makes me feel quite sad when people don;t acknowledge their followers in that way. What’s crazy for us is that everyone we’ve supported cares for their fanbase.
“When people start getting hype-y early on, they sometimes forget about that. We’re musicians, it’s art: it’s beautifully subjective.
“It doesn’t have to follow a storyline, and nobody can tell you how to listen to it or how to love it.
“Hearing how other people feel and think about what we do makes everything even more rewarding.”
Something the band has never lost, and which was evident in spades at their headline Brixton show was their love for their followers.
While taking a well-earned moment to enjoy their accomplishments, the band also remembered the thousands of music fans who have been with them every step of the way.
“It breaks our hearts, but albums aren’t really what they once were. There’s so much music out there, the industry is so over-saturated, and you have over 10,000 songs uploaded to Spotify a day.”
Spotify’s own figures show that it saw more than 60,000 new individual releases daily in 2021, and just under 100,000 as of last year.
“We felt ready to put this out, so last year was so exciting, living in that record but still touring at the start of the year.
“We’ll always do shows, but we were learning so much about what we wanted to say.
“The idea of the second album really excites us and we’re in such a good spot now that we’ve got what we wanted to say out in this album.
“It ended up being like therapy, and we’re all very similar, so the four of us felt very similar things, in the way that being in a band can affect your life like that.
“I feel like I was a bit foggy in 2024, but 2025 was a good year for us as a band and as people.
Despite being well within their rights to take a rest after what has been a monumental period in the band’s story, the next chapter is already in the works.
“We’re going to be busy for the next month, then March will see us working on new stuff. it’s exciting, we’re living our dream.
“There’ll be exciting things this year, and things seem to be coming in.
“We’re more self-assured than we’ve ever been. We’re ready to take on the world.”
