Newcomers Aunty Freeda are a Leeds based six-piece, using their training at Leeds Conservatoire to fuse art-pop, Georgian folk, jazz and classical influences into a unique and otherworldly amalgamation. Inspired by Kate Bush, Black Country New Road, Fiona Apple, and the theatricality of live performances from the 70s/80s, they are quickly becoming one of the most intriguing projects to emerge from the Leeds music scene in the past 12 months. Anna Alfreda Gudushauri Emmerson, half-Georgian singer-songwriter, directs the music, using her experiences as a queer woman to write deeply personal yet immediately relatable songs. Aunty Freeda is almost certainly a name you will be hearing more of in the future.

Inspired by the likes of Laura Marling, Adrienne Lenker, Radiohead and Neil Young, singer-songwriter Zoe Cure tethers herself to the world through song at its most intimate and imperfect best. After quietly cultivating her sound for many years, the release of her debut single in September 2022 was the result of a slow growth into confidence and a willingness to find strength in vulnerability. With delicately deep vocals, haunting melodies and lyrics that ache, her artfully crafted songs explore all things felt and invisible; from universal grief to personal joy and the spaces therein.