Y – Y EP

Label: Hideous Mink Records / SO Recordings
Released: 4th April 2025

Y’s self-titled debut EP is delightfully unhinged; it shouldn’t work but absolutely does. Like a fever dream scored by a jazz band having an existential crisis, ‘Y’ careens through four tracks of gloriously weird experimentation that gradually reveals method within its madness.

Opening track ‘Why’ initially feels like musical chaos theory in action – saxophone wails crash against mechanical rhythms while synths spiral in unexpected directions. Yet, somehow the pieces click into place. The track burrows into your consciousness, transforming from relentless noise into something addictively catchy through sheer force of personality.

‘Ladies Who’ offers slightly more conventional song structure, though “conventional” here is relative. The track bounces between angular post-punk guitars and playful keyboard hooks, while Adam Brennan and Sophie Coppin’s vocals weave around each other like DNA strands. It’s here that Y’s masterful control of their apparent chaos becomes clear – every jarring transition and unexpected instrumental flourish feels precisely calibrated for maximum impact.

The EP’s latter half brings fresh surprises. ‘Hate’ subverts expectations by wrapping its dark thematic material in deceptively bouncy instrumentation, creating a compelling tension between form and content. Harry McHale’s saxophone work, which dominates much of the EP, takes a more textural role here, adding subtle shading to the track’s exploration of negativity.

Only closer ‘Marianne’ hits slightly less hard, trading the previous tracks’ infectious energy for a more brooding atmosphere that, while ambitious, doesn’t quite capture the same magic. Still, even this showcases Y’s fearless commitment to pushing boundaries.

Born from London’s isolation period, ‘Y’ feels like the product of creative minds let loose without restraint. The band draws from an encyclopedia of influences – Japanese jazz fusion, Italo disco, experimental electronics – and scrambles them into something entirely new. It’s a debut that demands attention, not through volume or aggression, but through its sheer inventive spirit.