WINTER GARDENS + EVERYDAY SAINTS + RATS-TAILS – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 20.3.25
Brighton bands Winter Gardens and Everyday Saints along with Londoners Rats-Tails were the latest offering of quality and exciting emerging artists put on by local promoter Hidden Herd at The Prince Albert. It proved to be yet another great showcase of live music from all three of these up and coming bands.
Headlining at Hidden Herd Presents were Winter Gardens, who were showcasing their new EP ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ released this month on Austerity Records.
Winter Gardens are Ananda Howard (vocals), Jamie Windless (guitars), Jasmine Ardley (vocals, synth), Connor McCorkindale (drums) and Ed Fair (bass). Their music combines shoegaze atmospheres with pulsing post-punk guitars and a brooding gothic feel. Over this are the heavenly harmonising vocals of Ananda and Jasmine.
Opening with their debut single ‘Coral Bells’, Ananda’s quality vocals were immediately clear. There was an ethereal quality, which she managed to keep as the pace picked up, varying her speed while still keeping that enigmatic feel. Meanwhile, Jamie’s guitar provided a great post-punk new wave feel.
‘Zigzanny’ was the first song to highlight the wonderful vocal harmonies between Ananda and Jasmine. Their understated stage presence and letting their vocal talents shine, was contrasted by Jamie style. His guitar playing was far more animated, direct and aggressive, as he high kicked and shouted “Come On” to further gee up the already excited crowd. His theatricals didn’t distract from some quality post-punk guitar throughout the set. That juxtaposition between the singers and guitarist worked well giving Winter Gardens their distinctive sound.
The next four tracks were from the new EP ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’. The first of those tracks ‘Honeymooners’ started with Jasmine’s synth, and had a slower tempo, which allowed the vocals to shine. ‘Anthroposcene’ had a new wave sound mixed with soft vocals, on which Ananda switched to a more spoken delivery later, not dissimilar to a nursery rhyme recital. ‘Search Party’ with its softer start soon built with Conner’s drums setting the tempo, and later saw Jamie high kicking as he ramped up his guitar part. Later the music faded with a beautiful vocal duet by Ananda and Jasmine. ‘U/U’ had a stark opening with Ananda’s spoken word delivery, while later in the song the vocals were more choral. This contrasted cleverly with the fast-paced guitars and drums.
The following two tracks ‘Wonders Bleak’ and ‘Hyacinth’ both started with recorded sound bites. During the former Jamie played his guitar above his head, without any detriment to the sound. There was a change in style for what was to be the last song of their set. ‘Laminar Flow Pt. 2’ had more of a dance feel, which got even more people in the enthusiastic crowd dancing. Their calls for one more song, alas went unanswered, as ‘Laminar Flow Pt. 2’ was to be the last set of Winter Gardens’ very entertaining and enjoyable set. A fitting launch for their ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ EP which is available on Austerity Records HERE.
Winter Gardens:
Ananda Howard – lead vocals, tambourine
Jamie Windless – guitars
Jasmine Ardley – vocals, synth, eggshaker
Connor McCorkindale – drums
Ed Fair – bass
Winter Gardens:
‘Coral Bells’ (a 2019 single)
‘Zigzanny’ (from 2020 ‘Tapestry’ EP)
‘Honeymooners’ (from 2025 ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ EP)
‘Anthroposcene’ (from 2025 ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ EP)
‘Search Party’ (from 2025 ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ EP)
‘U/U’ (from 2025 ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ EP)
‘Wonders Bleak’ (from 2020 ‘Tapestry’ EP)
‘Hyacinth’ (from 2025 ‘Uncomfortable/Unlovable’ EP)
‘Laminar Flow Pt. 2’ (a 2021 single)
Second on stage were Brighton indie-pop outfit Everyday Saints (stylised as everyday saints). They are Pip Rainbird (vocals, guitar), Jade Middleton (vocals, synth), George Clark (lead guitar), Amelia Holder (bass) and Alex Mold (drums). As Jade could not make the Hidden Herd show, Pip took on the vocal duties herself. Self-described as “occult pop”, they craft dark, brooding music influenced by 80s new wave and modern alt-pop, blending hooky melodies, hypnotic vocals, danceable basslines and ominous synths.
From their opening song ‘Salem’, Everyday Saints had a noticeably punchier more intense direct sound, yet they still kept their unique spooky pop feel and catchy melodies. Their second song and latest single release ‘Guts/Glory’ continued the dark pop spooky feel, which Pip sang full of emotion as she hugged her guitar when not playing it.
Frontperson Pip had real stage presence as both her vocals and theatrical movements drew in and captivated the audience. She announced ‘Soma’ as being “about shagging people at work”. It had a late ABBA feel to it. (More ‘The Visitors’ album and ‘The Day Before You Came’ than Eurovision era, I should add.) There was a lot of melancholy and even anger in Pip’s voice on this song, fitting perfectly with its lyrics.
The tempo picked up on ‘Rumspringa’, a highlight of a great set. The fast tempo increased on ‘Barbarella (In The Valley Of The Dolls)’. Its clip of old church bells, which could have been taken from a horror movie, added to the atmosphere of the song. While ‘Lake Of Fire’ started slower, the mood and intensity didn’t fall. It built to something of a rock number, which showed another side of Pip’s vocal range, which I hadn’t previously seen.
The synth intro of ‘Distress Yourself’ signalled a change in style to the spooky pop side of Everyday Saints. Pip put everything into her vocals on that closing number, with so much emotion, often appearing to sing as if pained by the lyrics.
Despite the trade-mark stunning vocal harmonies between Pip and Jade being missing on this occasion, it was another great performance by Everyday Saints.
Everyday Saints:
Pip Rainbird (she/her) – vocals, guitar
Jade Middleton (she/her) – vocals, synth
George Clark (they/them) – lead guitar
Amelia Holder (she/they) – bass
Alex Mold (he/him) – drums
Everyday Saints setlist:
‘Salem’ (unreleased)
‘Guts/Glory’ (a 2024 single)
‘Soma’
‘Rumspringa’ (a 2024 single)
‘Barbarella (In The Valley Of The Dolls)’ (unreleased)
Lake Of Fire’ (unreleased)
‘Distress Yourself’ (a 2022 single)
Hidden Herd don’t just put on exciting local artists, but also give other bands their first Brighton outing. That was the case with the opening band London’s dream rock rodents, Rats-Tails. Formed by singer-songwriter Courtney and guitarist Chris in 2020, Rats-Tails are a dream rock band based in South East London. They were joined by their fellow rodents: Samuel (bass), Allegra (keyboard and synth) Frankie D (clarinet) and Elena (drums).
Rats-tails played a quality set full of variety. This was shown in their first three songs. The opening number ‘Bird Song’ started with the dark synth sounds, soft guitars and drums with the evening’s first taste of Courtney’s beautiful ethereal vocals. ‘Flowers’, their single released last year, started with Courtney singing to just her guitar and the clarinet, before the drums and guitars kicked in, giving it more of a funkier pop sound. ‘Mistakes’ had a slightly different sound again, with hints of alt-country.
Courtney announced Rats-tails are working on their debut EP, and that the next song ‘Public Domain’ would be the title track. It had a 1960’s psychedelic soft rock feel in places. Before the last song she said they had merch, and joked people could come and speak to “these stinky rats”.
Their penultimate song, ‘Spines’ had a shoegaze feel, which gradually built led by more superb drumming from Elena. Rats-Tails closed a most entertaining set with ‘Heat’ which had one of those atmospheric soundscapes you can simply lose yourself in. Towards the latter part of the song, it morphed into an almost prog-rock sound, before it closed beautifully.
Rats-Tails announced that they will be back to play the Alternative Escape in May. I and several others at Hidden Herd’s event, also hope they return to Brighton, when they release their debut EP.
Rats-Tails:
Courtney – vocals
Chris – guitar
Samuel – bass
Elena – drums
Allegra – keyboard, synth and backing vocals
Frankie D – clarinet
Rats-Tails:
‘Bird Song’ (unreleased)
‘Flowers’ (a 2024 single)
‘Mistakes’ (unreleased)
‘Public Domain’ (unreleased)
‘Spines’ (a 2022 single)
‘Heat’ (unreleased)
Don’t miss out on more exciting up-and-coming bands and artists, get yourself along to the ‘Hidden Herd’ new music discovery nights in Brighton, details and tickets available HERE.
