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Nottingham quartet DIVORCE are making waves with their infectious energy, emotional depth and unique blend, as they gear up for their biggest headline tour yet with brand new single ‘My Room’. Check out our latest Hype playlist cover feature.
Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Rosie Sco, Flower Up.
Divorce are a band on a mission. The Nottingham quartet have been making waves with their unique musical blend, and now, with a new single and their biggest headline tour to date on the horizon, they’re ready to take things to the next level.
But amidst all the excitement, the band remain grounded. Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, one-half of Divorce’s dynamic vocal duo, is keeping things real, even as he gears up for the release of ‘My Room’ and another busy festival season. “I am doing my laundry,” he reveals. “It’s pretty wild.”
That level of excitement shows just how much of 2024 has been a whirlwind for Divorce. “It’s probably been the busiest and best start to any year of our lives so far,” drummer Kasper Sandstrom – who also plays in fellow Dork faves Do Nothing, ‘FYI’ – reflects. “We did some stuff we can’t tell you about yet, which was pretty fun. The highlight of the year was the day off we had in Hastings, I reckon.”
We get it. It’s the home of the World Crazy Golf Championships. What more could you want?
Their new single, ‘My Room’, could send things to a whole new level, though. The deeply personal track explores vocalist Tiger Cohen-Towell’s relationship with their sibling, arriving to them in a flash of inspiration. “I wrote the lyrics to ‘My Room’ last summer, and for the most part, it just kind of spilled out really quick,” Tiger explains. “A lot of the best lyrics you write as a songwriter do this, I think; it’s like a little vortex opens up into your subconscious, and you just have to grab everything you can before it shuts again”.
The song’s raw honesty is palpable, with Tiger laying bare some very personal emotional struggles. “The song is about my brother and my want for a more emotionally communicative relationship with him. For the record, my brother is a legend, and I love him so much, hence my writing of songs about me wanting more of him in my life, but I think at times I’ve lacked the tools at times to really throw myself into being the best sibling I can be.”
It’s the track’s refrain, though, that really packs a punch. Tiger explains, “The chorus in this song really sums up my emotional constipation. I think, ‘You can’t sleep on my sofa if you won’t accept my food’ is maybe my favourite line, like unless you accept my affection on my terms, I won’t give you any. I really wanted to be able to express self-awareness of my own flaws.”
It’s a song that works hard to set a scene, too. “I want it to feel like you’re back in your childhood bedroom when you’re listening to it,” Tiger reveals. “Felix helped me resolve the chorus, ‘Oh brother, you run me through’ is his line, I was nervous and felt it was too in the nose at first, but I think that was mostly tied into my fear of being too vulnerable and direct.”
The song’s anthemic ending, featuring a children’s choir, came about in a serendipitous way. Guitarist Adam Peter-Smith explains, “From quite early on, we had the idea of a huge anthemic end section of the song, and we had talked about getting a children’s choir in to sing the part. By the time it came to recording, we still hadn’t managed to find one. Luckily, our producer messaged some of her mum friends local to the area of London we were in, and they very kindly brought their kids into the studio after school. We amazingly had found our children’s choir! The kids were all incredibly excited at the prospect of being in a real-life recording studio, and Tiger did an outstanding job of conducting them. They also sounded really great on the record! Maybe they should start a choir together.”
“The chorus in this song really sums up my emotional constipation”
Tiger Cohen-Towell
But the story behind ‘My Room’ doesn’t end there, as Felix recounts a particularly memorable moment from the process. “We recorded ‘My Room’ in London back in December, so we went to a Christmas party for our label the week we made it. We got an extremely cursed night bus back to our accommodation after the party and witnessed someone throw up all over the floor of the bus as they got off, and the person behind them immediately slipped over and landed in it. Pretty insane moment to be honest, hope everyone was okay.”
Deep, interpersonal relationships, a children’s choir and projectile vomit. Truly, it’s a song that has everything.
With ‘My Room’ ready to be unleashed upon the world, Divorce are gearing up for their biggest headline tour to date. But what’s life really like on the road for this band of “wholesome eggs”?
“Being on tour is an incredibly unique and bizarre experience,” Adam explains. “It’s like shifting into a gear you didn’t know you had – it’s definitely a muscle that you need to exercise if you want touring to feel easy. It can be the most fun you’ve ever had in your life, but it can also cause the most acute eye-burning stress. You can feel like the most loved and admired bunch of human beings on the planet, but also you can feel completely alone sometimes. It’s truly a balancing act and can be both challenging and rewarding – especially when you have a van that keeps breaking down.”
Ah yes – Divorce’s own room has four wheels and is a source of eternal frustration. “It’s very lovely and spacious, we spend a lot of time in there,” Kasper weighs up. “It also spends a lot of time breaking down; we hate it so much.”
Still, the band have their coping mechanisms. Adam continues, “I’m constantly reminded to keep on top of our mental and physical health whilst on the road. We’ve learnt quickly that eating well and getting enough sleep is crucial. We have been touring a fair bit in the last six months, and we have been lucky enough to have found a wonderful crew that honestly makes touring so much fun. What could be better than being on the road with a bunch of your best mates?”
“We have always and will be a handful of wholesome eggs”
Adam Peter-Smith
As for which dates they’re most excited about, Felix has a few in mind. He’s particularly looking forward to their biggest show to date in the capital. “Our London headline at Islington Assembly Hall will be a really special one, I think, but the nice thing about this tour is that we’re mainly going to places in the UK that bands wouldn’t often tour. I love playing in those smaller towns and cities because people seem to appreciate you passing through a little more than in the usual cities. Blackpool should be a fun one; we’re playing in a library there, which is exciting. Also, we’ve got our first Welsh headline at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff, which is a lovely venue!”
Divorce have also been learning from the bands they’ve toured with, as Kasper explains, “They’ve all been so vastly different, and I’m not sure if we were given any outright advice; they operate on such a different level production and crew-wise. But we definitely learnt a lot about what to strive for in a live show, in terms of spectacle and performance. Right now, we’re just trying to play the songs as best we can until we can afford pyro.”
But even with all the touring and promotion, Divorce are always writing. Tiger emphasises the importance of consistently flexing the songwriting muscle. “We are always writing! I think it’s very important to get ahead in that sense. And I do fully believe that songwriting is a muscle and you should be flexing it little and often, I get into a big panic if a few weeks go by and I haven’t written anything.
“We have a busy summer ahead with the festivals we’re playing,” Tiger continues. “We’ll be in rehearsals too for our tour in autumn. I think we’ve always just got up on stage and played our tunes, but for this tour, we’re looking to really put on a show and be the best live band we can be. I think all the wonderful people who have bought tickets deserve that!”
And as for what comes next? Tiger is keeping cards close to the chest there, teasing, “We do have things in our bag, things that we are extremely excited about, and I swear that all will be revealed soon.”
So there you have it, Dear Reader. Divorce are a band with a lot on their plate – but one thing’s for sure: with ‘My Room’ and their biggest tour to date on the horizon, they’re ready to take on the world, one load at a time. ■
Girl Scouts’ new single ‘I Just Needed You To Know’ is out now. Follow Dork’s Hype Spotify playlist here.
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