Porridge Radio are one of the most vital new voices in alternative music, having gone from being darlings of the DIY underground to one of the UK’s most thrilling bands in the space of less than a year. Their barbed wit, lacerating intensity and potent blend of art-rock, indie-pop and post-punk sounds like little else around, and led their 2020 album “Every Bad” to make the nominees list for the coveted Mercury Music Prize.
For frontperson Dana Margolin, drummer Sam Yardley, keyboardist Georgie Stott and bassist Maddie Ryall – who met in the seaside town of Brighton and formed Porridge Radio in 2014 – global recognition has been a long time coming, after years of self-releasing and music booking their own tours. In those eight years, Dana has gained a reputation as one of the most magnetic band leaders around with an ability to “devastate you with an emotional hurricane, then blindside you with a moment of bittersweet humour” (NME).
But if “Every Bad” established Dana’s lemon-sharp, heart-on-sleeve honesty, Porridge Radio’s third album takes that to anthemic new heights. “Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky” is the sound of someone in their late twenties facing down the disappointment of love, and life, and figuring out how to exist in the world, without claiming any answers. It’s also catchy as hell.
The title – which was partly inspired by a collage by the British surrealist Eileen Agar – speaks to the “joy, fear and endlessness” of the past few years. Dana’s songwriting and delivery is more confident, with the emotional incisiveness of artists like Mitski, Sharon Van Etten and Big Thief. Though it’s softer and more playful in places than “Every Bad’s” blowtorch ferocity, there are moments of powerful catharsis, ones that occur when you allow the full intensity of an experience to take hold.
In places, that no-holds-barred rawness is on a par with bands like Deftones (their panoramic metal is a key touchstone of “Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky”) or American emo, elevated by Yardley’s ambitious instrumentals. “I kept saying that I wanted everything to be ‘stadium-epic’ – like Coldplay,” says Dana.
With “Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky”, Porridge Radio have distilled their myriad influences down like they’re flipping through their own singular dial: dreamy yet intense, gentle but razor-edged, widescreen and yet totally intimate. People tell Dana that “Every Bad” got them through their cancer diagnosis, their break-up, their isolated lockdown. But with their new album, the band are taking a step up and spring-boarding into a bright, exciting unknown.
The video for “The Rip” above directed by Dana’s sister Ella is really something to behold. And a stunning animated video for “End Of Last Year” below.
The third full-length album by Brighton’s acclaimed indie types Porridge Radio. Following their Mercury Music Prize nominated album ‘Every Bad’, the album sees singer and songwriter Dana Margolin searching for a balance between the joy, fear and endlessness in her life through infectious indie anthems.
Being able to make another video with Ella Margolin was such a privilege, and the whole team was incredible. Ella had such a strong and clear vision for this video and brought so much energy to it which really carried us through a freezing and exhausting January night. Not sure if just any director could get me to jump of that terrifying giant thing at the end that many times just by saying ‘oh come on dans just one more time you promised you’d do it’.
“The Rip” by Porridge Radio from the forthcoming album ‘Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky’ out May 20th on Secretly Canadian.
The Fat Angel Sings 