Pleasance x Rankd

The glitter-spitting goodness of Pleasance

After a searing debut back in June ’24, Pleasance are making an impactful return with their follow-up single ‘Cool’ – set to release on May 15th. With June 24’s ‘Fruit’ fusing melancholic harmonies, tremolo-picked guitar and lo-fi vocal simplicity, Soph, Tom, Ruby and Izzy are re-emerging with a tempo-boosted, energy-injected track for an era of newfound song writing maturity. ‘Cool’ cuts no corners, packing a punch with goosebump-raising vocal layers and a chugging guitar backbone that dances playfully with Sophie’s lead melody – ‘I’m not cool, cool enough for you‘.

Marking the occasion with a FREE release party at Brighton’s cosy and intimate shoebox venue ‘Bee’s Mouth’, the quartet are whipping up an impactful live sound which has slowly blossomed since their debut release – expect wall-rumbling bass and audience-engaging flair to tie together a well-rounded celebration alongside newcomers ‘MESTENGO‘. 

What’s next? We caught up with lead vocalist Soph ahead of the release to talk through challenges, achievements, plans and experiences since forming last year – check out our conversation below!

'Fruit' was written before we had had experience of playing to a crowd. We do play a different version of Fruit live, because there was stuff we had to cut to make a more compelling record - our sound has changed to accommodate for what is fun to play live!' - Soph

In conversation with Pleasance...

‘Cool’ is defined by a fusion of stripped, relaxed vocals and a gritty guitar backbone, showcasing your dynamic approach to the songwriting process. Talk us through the writing of ‘COOL’ – what was the most challenging part of the process?

‘Cool’ came from an idea that Tom (lead guitar) had. It sounded like a chorus part, it’s the part that now comes after the second verse, and we weren’t sure how to write it for a while but then I think I changed the key and wrote the riff as a kind of hook and worked out the verse and structure from there. I think for a really long time about what’s the best way to adjust structures to make a track interesting to listen to the whole way through, so the most challenging part is usually developing restraint around the parts that are really addictive to play.’

Almost 1 year since the release of your debut Fruit, how do you think your sound has changed?

Our sound has changed to accommodate for what is fun to play live as that’s the main way we are able to show people the music we make right now. Fruit was written before we had had experience of playing to a crowd. We do play a different version of Fruit live, because there was stuff we had to cut to make a more compelling record. So we’ve kept in the bits that are fun for an audience to watch and engage with in the set.

What is your proudest achievement to date, and what are you hoping to achieve in 2025?

We sold out our first headline recently, we played at The Pipeline in February with M. Woodroe and The Devil’s Lotus, who are both exceptional. We felt really proud to play and sell out a gig with people who are our friends, who we respect as performers, and to see people having a great time during our set. In 2025 we’d really like to meet more of our audience. We want to encourage more women to come to gigs, more queer people, we want to offer a space where people who often feel ostracised by a gig environment feel welcome. It’s very difficult to break through to people on what is essentially no budget, so local support from people like you guys is massively valuable.

Tell us about your experience with the Brighton music scene – favourite venues/promotors/artists?

We’re always very impressed by Moonrock Management, they’re a small grassroots promoter. They’re professional and put on gigs with great energy. Hidden Herd are always putting on gigs with great line-ups, and often they’re 4 band bills which showcase locals. We love basement venues; Rossi Bar, Brunswick Cellar and The Bee’s Mouth are so fun to play when they’re packed out, it’s great to be on the same level as the crowd, we get to join in with them. For artists – go and see Ism the next time they’re playing. Their gigs are so fun, it’s like theatre or performance art mixed with a punk show.

Any advice for budding artists?

My advice to other artists in a similar position to us would be to support the people around you as much as you can. The best thing about being at the grassroots level is being able to support bands directly. Buy their merch, go to gigs, tell other people about them.

‘Cool’ is available to pre-save here. 

Press photo by Em Austin (@emshootsbands)