Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen, and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music.
1. Lake Malice – Scatterbrain –
We’re adding Lake Malice to the playlist, to join Lake Acacia! Lake Malice are Alice Guala and Blake Cornwall from Brighton; they headlined Reading Rising at The Facebar last November with a dynamic set of their Anime-inspired hyperpop. This is their latest single, just released, which addresses the desperation of modern life and the never ending demands for attention. They have a busy tour schedule already round the UK and Europe. Catch them live if you can, we’re hoping we might see them back in Reading before too long! https://www.facebook.com/lakemalice
2. Split the Dealer – Freefalling –
Reading-based Split the Dealer is the brainchild of Sam Brett and we’ve featured a few of their tracks in the past, with good reason! They’ve just completed a tour headlining in Bristol, Manchester and Oxford, and this is the lead track from their 2025 EP, The Precipice of a Broken Mind. As the title suggests, it contains a number of songs written at a time of uncertainty and examines how to deal with that. https://www.facebook.com/splitthedealer
3. Masquerader – Vertical Video –
Some math punk from Reading’s noisy bois, Masquerader, next. The members of the band met at Reading Uni, and found they all felt they suffered from imposter syndrome, and chose the name Masquerader to reflect this. This single also completes their three-track EP, Closer to Death, along with tracks Pyre, and Worse Than the Wolf (which we featured in January). Like Split the Dealer, Masquerader recently completed a short tour, and will be on stage again in Oxford in April. https://linktr.ee/ Masquerader
4. The Alabama 3 – If I’d Never Seen Sunshine –
The Alabama 3 are most widely known for their track Woke Up this Morning, which was used as the intro to TV behemoth, The Sopranos. Their current tour is revisiting their first two albums, La Peste and Exile on Coldharbour Lane, but we’ve chosen a track from their latest album, Cold War Classics Vol 1. https://www.facebook.com/thealabama3
5. The Borough – Thursday in Baghdad –
Reading-based The Borough have been flying under our radar, but have popped up with this, their debut single. You might possibly have encountered them at their roughly monthly residency at The Butler which goes under the paradoxical branding of “Please Ban Music”; we haven’t seen them yet, but will be looking out for them now, having heard this example of their sound, described as “Surf Punk Funk” by masked surf-rockers Horse Rock (and they should know!). https:// www.instagram.com/the_borough_m16/
6. Crooked Shapes – Can’t Win For Losing –
Crooked Shapes are another Reading-based band, specialising in alt-rock. We saw them play live in Peach Place in Wokingham in 2021, and they’ve come on a bit since then. This latest single was co-written by George Twydell with Black Star Riders frontman Ricky Warwick, following a meeting which involved bonding over their choice of guitar and amps; the song deals with the pressures of having to conform to other people’s expectations and not being in control of your own destiny. (We featured Ricky’s Christmas song recently, and he played at the Face Bar in 2023). https:// linktr.ee/crookedshapes
7. Lake Acacia – What Have We Become –
Banbury-based duo Lake Acacia played a blinding set at the Purple Turtle the other week, including this, their latest single released just last month. The song examines the state of a relationship that has maybe gone on too long; are they staying together just because they’ve been together for so long? The track is another fine example of their distinctive sound, of bass and drums augmented by synths and harmonised vocals. https://linktr.ee/lakeacacia
8. BarrelHaus – Black Tar –
Another duo from Oxfordshire, but Oxford itself this time, BarrelHaus have featured in the playlist recently, and they’re back again already with a 5-song EP, including this cracking alt rock track with an infectious riff and shuffling drum patterns – play it loud! They were in Reading just a couple
of weeks ago, and will be visiting again next month, courtesy of Club Velocity, catch them at the Rising Sun Arts Centre on Friday 25th April! https://linktr.ee/barrelhaus
9. Solstice – Firefly –
Compared to the length of the last two tracks, this one is positively epic, but since Solstice were voted Best Band 2024 by Prog Magazine, and progressive rock is not noted for producing 3- minute singles, it’s not all that surprising! This is their latest single, and is a great example of their sound. They have also been announced as one of the top bands at this year’s Wokingham Festival, this coming August Bank Holiday, so you’ll be able to enjoy the full live experience (get your Early Bird tickets now!). https://www.facebook.com/solsticeprog
10. Belizaire – Taste –
Belizaire previewed their upcoming debut album at the Hope and Anchor in Wokingham recently. We caught them not long before that supporting AlphaLine at the Acoustic Couch in Bracknell and we were impressed with what we saw. Judge for yourself, Taste is the first single from their upcoming album Unravel. https://www.facebook.com/belizaireband
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
