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Nov 21, 2025 By Andy Von Pip Photography by Charlie Wright

North London’s GIFTHORSE return with “13 Going On 30”, a knowingly cinematic slice of ‘frazzled English pop’ that examines the moment you realise adulthood isn’t quite the glossy montage ’80s teen movies promised you. Drawing inspiration from John Hughes classics (Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club) and the gentle British awkwardness of Gregory’s Girl, the track finds the band wrestling with life goals that keep drifting just out of reach.

Guitarist Charlie Butler summed up the idea after watching his younger sister turn 18, leading to the song’s standout lyric: “I used to think 18 was old.” It’s delivered with the kind of bruised honesty that recognises growing up as less coming-of-age fairytale, and more like trying to assemble flat-pack furniture with missing screws. Naomi Mann pushes this frustration into something triumphant, belting “I’m making other plans / Vienna waits for me!” like she’s kicking the coming-of-age door down rather than meekly entering it.

Musically, it’s a heady mix of nostalgic drum machines, fizzy guitars and big choruses. The single follows their debut “Please Love Me”, which earned early love from BBC Radio 6 Music and a flurry of TikTok fans singing along in their bedrooms , which is possibly the most 2025 way to announce yourself.

Fronted by Naomi Mann, who originally hails from Sheffield, and Charlie Butler, alongside twins Zak and Iggy Waller, GIFTHORSE specialise in bittersweet, indie pop anthems, and with “13 Going On 30”, they prove that if adulthood won’t live up to the movies, you might as well write your own soundtrack.

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