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May 22, 2021 By Dom Gourlay Photography by Ralph Barklam

Witch of the East have announced their second long player, Savage Beauty, which will be released later this year. The band is the brainchild of Leeds-based singer, songwriter, and trans-activist Aeris Houlihan, who also produced the record. Witch of the East’s sound has drawn comparisons with a diverse range of artists from Grace Jones and My Vitriol to Sonic Youth and Placebo. Together with co-writer and performance artist Zera Tønin and drummer/percussionist Manny, the trio have conjured up one of 2021’s brightest and most articulate records, its sonic trajectory moving seamlessly from vitriolic angst to intricate melody at the drop of a hat.

The follow-up to 2019’s debut Queen of Insecurity. Savage Beauty comes out on Friday 29th October through Nottingham independent label I’m Not From London and can be pre-ordered here.

The full tracklisting is as follows.

Savage Beauty Tracklist:

1. “Ritual”
2. “Red, Yellow And Black”
3. “Comfort Me”
4. “Fool’s Paradise”
5. “Through A Thousand Doors”
6. “Little Red”
7. “Something’s Wrong”
8. “Martini Glasses”
9. “Just Enough”
10. “In the Dark”

Witch of the East were successful in a grant application through Leeds Inspired and Leeds City Council to host an art/performance exhibition in Leeds city centre. The exhibition will take place towards the end of September 2021. Aeris Houlihan takes up the story.

“For an upcoming single we placed a call-out on social media asking for people (not just our fans) to submit videos of themselves expressing how they are feeling during lockdown. I guess you could say the idea came about due to concern around marginalized communities. The submissions could be in the form of dancing, performance art or anything they felt comfortable doing. The idea was to help people escape reality for a brief moment, celebrate themselves and get back to some type of normality and joy. We used the videos that were sent in and I performed in front of them as an expression of the overall tone of the videos. It was professionally filmed at Leeds School of Performance Art. The video will be used to promote the next single “Something’s Wrong.” The exhibition will host brand news submission from the public that will be exhibited at the exhibition in the form of video, paintings, photography and live performances from drag acts and artists”

Here is the video for “Something’s Wrong”

Meanwhile, Witch of the East have also confirmed the following shows.

Witch of the East Tour Dates:

31st July Leeds Wharf Chambers
26th August London Sonic Summer Saucisson Fest
29th August Hull Ulltra Fest
24th/25th September Leeds Belgrave (WOTE exhibition launch)
26th September Nottingham Dot to Dot Festival
24th October Nottingham Hockley Hustle
29th January 2022 Leeds Belgrave (Riffest)

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