Teddy Maloney

Interview & Words - @victoryland___ for @soyoungmagazine On their way back from SXSW, So Young spoke to Victoryland, the latest project from Julian McCamman. With fellow bandmates jokingly haggling from the van, it was clear that their latest shows have unified this group, they’ve come together as not just artists but friends – all connected in their belief for the group – which is well placed given the success of their latest album My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It and the excellent reviews of shows in Austin and beyond. A joyful and optimistic, yet heartfelt and crushing album, narrating what it means to live today, how to face our failures and continue onto the next day with a fragment of hope. It’s unsurprising that such an album comes from an artist who claims, “I’ve had my fair amount of musical disappointments”, because it’s a piece of art that could only have come from someone who has persevered, continued to the point of reckless dedication and now is getting the deserved acclaim. An album that is New York in its sympathies, paying unconscious homage to the City that has contributed so much music to the world, however, it is not derivate but rather a fragmentary collection of influences, gathered from the spaces that the artist now inhabits and has made their own. We spoke of the production process with Dan Howard, the movement to pop, making mistakes, hope in a time of hopelessness, and the legality of cover art.

Interview & Words - @bleech_9.3 for @soyoungmagazine Bleech 9:3 is comprised of, brothers Baz and James Quinlan, Sam Duffy and Luke O’Neill. Although growing up only minutes apart and playing in bands in and around Dublin, the group only came together after a tumultuous experience with addiction led Duffy to seek advice from Baz Quinlan, a musician whom he’d been told had managed to get sober. Subsequently Baz became Duffy’s sponsor and what came next was a period of secret song writing sessions; in private they formed the spiritual and emotional connection that would become Bleech 9:3. Then they moved to London and that is where we find them. All this appears as if it could be a film, a novel – a tale of over-coming trials, a contemporary Shakespearean drama – but it is the reality of Bleech 9:3 and this reality is written deep into their identity. It shines through the cracks in all that they do. Signing to Ra-Ra Rok Records who serendipitously it turns out had signed Wu-Lu, a group that inspired them on their arrival to the City. We talk of their ability to find inspiration through semiological modes, mainly linguistic and audio-visual, specifically the Bible and Wim Wenders; the importance of recovery and sobriety; the role of performativity in their lives; and the dual relationality of good and evil – the struggle at the heart of humanity. And of course, what comes next for this talented and fast-rising group of musicians.

Interview & Words - @jerkcurb for @soyoungmagazine Jerkcurb release their latest album – Night Fishing On A Calm Lake. An album that is not entirely accessible on the first listen through, or even the second, or the third. This lack of inherent accessibility however is a key component of the narrative – that grief is not, and perhaps can never be fully understood or coherently formulated. What is given through multiple listens is that the album resonates with these complexities of grief and loss; that these abundant and contradictory emotional registers are in constant entanglement – some understandable and natural, others disturbing yet liberating. Sonically, Night Fishing On A Calm Lake is a departure from Air Con Eden, more synthetic and layered, less opaque and more direct. A record that explores the experiences of grief and redemption through the unity of tone when everything surrounding can feel discordant and oneiric. Read wrote, engineered and produced the album in a solitary manner, first at a home studio in his late father’s bedroom and subsequently in the studio in West Ham (serendipitously his Dad’s football club). After spending days and nights recording, becoming inseparable from the project, Read found some confidence in support from friends, and added other musicians to play on the record. A heart-warming and connective experience. We spoke about the journey so far, juggling multiple creative endeavours, musical personas, magical realism and more. Purchase the magazine - online or in-stores, or however you please..

Review - ‘soft spot for a junkie’ by @gjgjgjgjgjgjgj_gjgjgjgjgjgj for @soyoungmagazine i’m so lucky all the junkies so soft around me These are the opening lines to the final poem, thank you, in Georgie Jesson’s debut poetry book, ‘soft spot for a junkie’ (Toothgrinder Press). These words encapsulate the tenderness with which Jesson dissects and intervenes into their own history and memory as they deal with grief, loss, bereavement and love. A subjectivity that was crafted and moulded through family relations, between a Bosnian mother and a British father; ‘a communist turned neurotic capitalist’ and ‘a private school cast-off turned heroin addict’ respectively. As many people have, myself included, Jesson found love a love for poetry through music, initially in the work of PJ Harvey and Bob Dylan and later on in more esoteric and obscure lyricists such as Karen Dalton, Jock Scott and Ben Wallers. It is the hope that in writing about this beautiful, violent and raw work of poetry in what is predominately a ‘music’ publication that others will be able to find refuge and companionship in this literary form, if that they have not already, and participate in its possibilities as a mode of self-actualisation and a constituent of collective liberation. In-Print - Purchase online or wherever you may find your print publications..

Interview & Words - @sorrybanduk for @soyoungmagazine So Young spoke to Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen of Sorry ahead of the release of their third album, ‘Cosplay’ out in November on Domino Records. Whether this record is a tearing down of the Sorry of before, a humorous and ironic take on cultural icons, or an experimental exploration into identity and temporality, remains to be seen – but, perhaps the key is that it is all of them together – and even more. Sorry have emerged in recent years an exciting group who engage with their audience and music through the mobilisation of urgency and intimacy, weaving together a narrative of life in this contemporary moment. As objects and life itself further continue to lose meaning, Sorry take this problematic not solely as a negative but explore the endless possibilities if we are now capable of reinterpreting, reimagining and recreating the past to inform the present and invite ideas for alternative futures. Through sampling lyrics and melodies from previous records within the new material, Sorry have created a world for their music, weaving together threads which affect memory and bring forth newer forms of interpretation that were previously unimaginable – a world that can be lived in. Each track leans into a certain genre, such that the album becomes a collage of musical identities which as a fully realised project comes together to serve sensation as opposed to sonics. The conversation tended towards the abstract, and it is a rarity to hear artists speak so poetically about their craft, the ideas did not need to be fully elaborated or totally concise, to feel their meaning. We talked about music and the politics of care, being embodied, their decision to take time to record the album, the centrality of life in their lyrics, an exciting new visual dimension to their live shows and more. Sorry are deserving of even more recognition, and this album shows that they should receive it – a masterful modern record – that is a treasure from top to bottom.

In an interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist and an essay by Thea Belton on the Congolese artist Sammy Baloji, both dialogues identify memory—and its reconstitution—as a necessary function of art and an aspect of its capacity to act as refuge. Art and transgenerational spaces hold the potential not only to reiterate history but to reimagine and reconstitute it anew. For Obrist, memory is a living archive, sustained through intergenerational links that can be maintained and renewed through new forms of art and exhibition spaces. For Baloji, memory is embedded in the landscape itself—his reworked colonial aerial photographs expose how our methods and sensibilities of spectatorship, mapping, and framing both conceal and reveal history.

FREEHOLD: On Refuge - Available on website in Bio - Featuring: @lucyjorgeorta @somegalart @yiling_zhao_ @j_self @theabelton @alihaddddd @hansulrichobrist @stellaindiasmt @juni.ham @fotohanedarkroom @nourkamie @starlesslucy @imariatz @_finngibson_ @ebert_ego @limboaccra @phoenixyemoja @asilinura @abdoumaliqsimone @5bucksvenmo @ralphnasrallah @dropsypenelope @karmmaacoma @billy.emery @maluhalasa @ted_dee__ As you open our first edition and begin to explore the contours of what refuge might mean, you will encounter a methodology that both exceeds and remains rooted in the idea of refuge itself. This multilogue offers insights into the political, cultural, aesthetic, physical, and infrastructural dimensions through which refuge is understood. In doing so, it instigates a dialogue with the contemporary moment-through acts of historicization and gestures toward futurity. This edition emerges not from a fixed method, but as a collection of fragments that seek to activate social curiosity and, by extension, help lay the groundwork for a more desirable material future: one which recognises the necessity of the many forms of refuge.

Interview & Words - @baritaliaa for @soyoungmagazine So Young sat down over a drink to speak with bar italia at the Effra Tavern Hall in Brixton, to discuss their forthcoming album, Some Like It Hot, out on Matador Recording in October 2025. Without the requirement to merely get to know them, to lift the veil, due to their previous decision to finally engage in interviews; we were able get straight into it, to go beyond the mere pleasantries and introductions. What was discovered was their humour, something that goes beyond the joking nature of their naming of songs and albums, but really their ability to have a good time and a laugh, truly a group who appear to enjoy each other’s presence and making music together. If the light-hearted nature and sarcasm are not to found upon reading, it is not because of the interview itself, but perhaps its transmission in this form, a failure of the writer not the interviewees. We discussed their work with Matador, from the ability to have greater access to technology and its effects on their sound; the freedom of working with an engineer and their ability to attract audiences not just in Britain, but particularly across the Pond in the US. The persistence of, what kindly could be termed misinterpretation, but is perhaps more appropriately termed ‘shit takes’ by journalists, and the relationship between para-social relations and privacy – where the live show still exists as the centre of connection and communication, even if it is the music that does most the talking (except for the odd heckler). ‘Some Like it Hot’ is an intriguing album that takes instinct and thoughtfulness in equal measure; it doesn’t get bogged down. It opens space up, burning off the clouds for the sun to shine down on its protagonists, only for clouds to quickly return as the rain saturates the setting. It moves forwards, a clear development of bar italia’s sound but remains true to the multi-vocal perspectives that first made fans enamoured with them; effectively toeing the line between lo-fi and their new affordances of improved studios. I responded to it as an album that was full of love, vulnerability and intensely emotive... Read On..

Interview & Words - @cardinalsband_ for @soyoungmagazine Having released their debut self-titled EP ‘Cardinals’, and now the single ‘Big Empty Heart’; the band are ready to take on their next challenge – the album – coming in 2026. So Young spoke with Euan Manning (frontman) and Finn Manning (accordion) to learn more about how they’re feeling about the future whilst searching to understand how they got here in the first place. Here being, a band at forefront of everyone’s mind – from their ever-growing fanbase to Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. to the labels who competed for their signature. For many, the prospect of writing a debut album, especially one that is highly anticipated comes with stress and anxieties. However, this band are filled with excited for the process ahead, to gather together in conclave and create, harnessing all they have learnt so far, from international musical inspiration to the affectivity of everyday life. Cardinals have been able to remain grounded, nor are they here to pontificate: recalling the necessity for friendship, focusing on themselves, silencing the surrounding noise; clearly harnessing the ability to take it in their stride whilst having fun. We talked in depth on the Gaelic Cultural Revival, Irish Identity and the stupidity of ‘Green Wave’. The fetishisation of Irish culture by Britain and the music industry which adopts the “fun” aspects, whilst distancing itself from Britain’s Colonial history, issues regarding imperialism, and the necessity for awareness and education. With the album on its way in the New Year and its subsequent touring; but prior to its release, shows with Fontaines D.C, Wunderhorse, the Pogues and many more, it’s clear that Cardinals’ rise has only just begun. Their music speaks through space and density, of transition and stagnation, for lovers and the lonely alike – within their sound there is something for you – to find company. For the full article - get a copy wherever you may do that, or online at So Young Magazine (website).

Interview & Words - @elias.ronnenfelt for @soyoungmagazine Speaking to Elias Rønnenfelt on their Birthday. In the last few months, Elias Rønnenfelt’s output has been prolific recently, releasing ‘Heavy Glory’ in October 2024, and more recently, ‘lucre’ in January 2025 alongside Dean Blunt and Vegyn. An interesting, provocative partnership; Dean Blunt signifies the modern artist with internet anonymity and a deterritorialized production method. Elias Rønnenfelt is perhaps, more stylistically anachronistic, an ‘old school’ artist with an acoustic guitar, who roamed through Europe in preparation for his solo work. Rønnenfelt’s music is sentimental and sincere, a naked portrayal of a psyche coming to terms with relationships, those romantic or with-the-world, and the feelings and emotions which these relations encourage. Rønnenfelt is not just songwriter, but perhaps belongs more rightly to a tradition of wordsmiths who can interact fiercely with various literary forms, having in the past penned a poetry book; he is never-far from his notebook where he is able to note down inspiration which the world leaves hidden for us, if only we have the patience and keenness to open ourselves to perception. Historically, Rønnenfelt may have taken issue with those who named the likeness of his work, the influences which were wrung throughout his songs; however now with warranted appraisal and self-faith, he has found security in knowing his own voice and capabilities as a writer. It seems this now enables one to situate Rønnenfelt in a musical tradition, which perhaps he can now accept being a part of, one that does not constrict his output but instead breathes life into it, celebrating its important continuation. We spoke of religion and absolution, the freedom in collaboration, the differences between irony and sincerity, Townes Van Zant – but not on ‘lucre’ with Dean Blunt.

Interview & Words - @blackcountrynewroad for @soyoungmagazine A Real Privilege - First Cover Interview For a brilliant publication with an amazing group! Black Country, New Road have shown continued resilience, no matter what the test or trial, or the changing of the times; together they have continued to press onwards. Together being of the utmost importance. From their meteoric rise and the critical acclaim of their debut album, ‘For the first time’ with its Mercury Prize nomination, through to their sophomore ‘Ants From Up There’ and now their third studio album, ‘Forever, Howlong’, released on Ninja Tune, out on April 4th. Black Country, New Road have shown their singular ability to reconfigure their process and procedure, trusting their capabilities and their particular sound. A sound that arises only when this group of talented musicians come together in articulate arrangements that press the listener into a transcendental experience. With its bold vulnerability and sense of unity, ‘Forever, Howlong’ provides a map through the contemporary landscape of isolation and loneliness. Its thread being that of connection, seeking a path that becomes realisable through appreciation and reliance on those whom one surrounds themselves with. To look beyond the confines, or coffin of individuality and understand that only through removing the bars of being self-absorbed can we truly find the beauty of a meaningful existence. Although, such an interpretation, Black Country, New Road were tentative to apply to the album, perhaps, they believe that such a realisation cannot be forced-upon the album, it is rather given as a musical offering, a gift through which the listener must themselves find the answers, the musicians themselves just giving the point of departure. For the full article and more great conservations and artwork; get a copy wherever you may do that or online on So Young Magazine.

Finding Détournement The subversion of the intended message, the re-articulation of content and the reconfiguration of form. Enacting a poetics of resistance through recontextualization. A newspaper article turned into a poem. Through various methods of reformulation, such as ‘erasure’, ‘blackout’, ‘collage’, ‘cut-and-paste’, in order to take what is given, and create a new poem. The found element, arises from the procuring of the material, that being the newspaper, from a chance, yet fully intentional encounter. In particular, in this instance, from a newspaper sourced on the London Underground. The purpose of this is multi- dimensional, it involves a ‘scrapping’ of left-behind goods that are deemed unfit, that have been ‘scrapped’ for their information and are believed to have been fully extracted from, thus exhausting their perceived utility. In a double-sense, the newspaper itself can be both ‘recycled’ (removed from the littering that it existed as), and ‘upcycled’ (as it is re-used and repurposed). As free information, and the restricted openness that exists in the limitation of the language embedded. The ‘found-piece’ as material can be freed from its constraints through poetic devices and forms, to transform, subvert and create new meaning. Not merely to critique or insult ineptitude through irony, but simultaneously to provide a departure into the antithesis, opposite, or difference, to create a possibility of positivity out of negativity in the content found. Offering hope and possible engagement, to enact dialogue and conversation with thoughts and propositions of what could be, what can be existence. The level of recontextualization, reconfiguration, disassembling and re-assembling, into a level of linguistic abstraction or reprocessing of the codified meaning, re-territorializing ‘journalism’ into poetry, is chosen but is optionally oriented towards here. The prefix re- is overused, or exhausted intentionally, to pursue the ideal through repetition, that what can be, exists in what already is. ‘The appropriation of found materials and reliance on procedural and constraint-based compositional strategy.’