Freak Slug

I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top), out today, 7 March 2025, via Future Classic – stream/purchase HERE

Listen to the second bonus track “Killer” HERE / watch the video HERE

Tours the UK, Europe and North America in March / April / May including SXSW in the US and dates in London (Moth Club, 22 May) and Manchester (Deaf Institute, 23 May)

“It’s when Xenya Genovese lets the Freak overtake the lackadaisical Slug that ‘… Big Candles’ is best.” – DIY: 4*

“on her debut album, I Blow Out Big Candles, she has finally struck a perfect chord of weird and charming that feels fitting for her band’s peculiar name” – The Fader

“Freak Slug is a moniker that perfectly embodies the curious, offbeat charm of Xenya Genovese’s sound, capturing both whimsy and bite.” – CMU

“I like the depth of the music, there’s a cinematic emotion and it doesn’t just relate but it explores the feelings with the sounds and the drama in the lyricism… if you’re a fan of Lana Del Ray, Beabadoobee and a complex web of both those brilliant artists… feels so weightless, carefree… I like it a lot…” – Jack Saunders – BBC Radio 1

“Another favourite of ours on the show, grungy, flirtatious and so incredibly magnetic… hopefully she’ll find her sexy lemon soon… follow up to ‘Spells’ which we also love… exciting things in the pipeline so watch this space” – Jess Iszatt – BBC Radio 1 Introducing

Freak Slug, the project of the Manchester multi-disciplinary artist Xenya Genovese, today releases I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top) via Future Classic. The expanded release sees the debut album available on LP for the first time, along with two new bonus tracks, “Liquorice” and “Killer”. Stream / purchase it here.

A haunting alt-pop track that weaves between Xenya’s enticing voice and a sudden bursting guitar hook, “Killer”, is available today along with an accompanying video directed by Kevin Hensler.

“Killer” follows the release of “Liquorice”, which was premiered on BBC Radio 6 Music by Nemone (in for Nick Grimshaw). The single was also featured as Amy Lamé’s Sunday Girl on 6 Music and Sian Eleri’s Next Wave on BBC Radio 1, and has been added to the Radio X X-Posure List.

Listen to the new single “Killer” here and watch the video below.

After embarking on her first US tour last December with two live shows each in New York and Los Angeles plus a date in Chicago, which all sold out, Freak Slug is currently on an extensive North American tour this month and next, which kicked off with a sold out show in Seattle and will feature multiple performances at SXSW. Freak Slug will then return to the UK and Europe for live dates in May including London’s Moth Club on 22 May and Deaf Institute in her hometown of Manchester on 23 May. See the full list of live dates below.

07 MAR – The Libertine | San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
08 MAR – Lodge Room | Los Angeles, CA, USA
11 MAR – Hotel Vegas (SXSW) – midnight | TX, USA
12 MAR – Marshall @ Mohawk (SXSW) – 1pm | TX, USA
12 MAR – SX San Jose @ Hotel San Jose (SXSW) – 4pm | TX, USA
12 MAR – BBC / BME @ Palm Door (SXSW) – 9:30pm | TX, USA
13 MAR – KUTX @ Scholz Garten (SXSW) – 11am | TX, USA
13 MAR – Future Classic @ Mohawk Indoor (SXSW) – 11pm | TX, USA
14 MAR – Public Radio Daystage (SXSW) – 12pm | TX, USA
14 MAR – The Secret Group | Houston, TX, USA
15 MAR – Siberia | New Orleans, LA, USA
17 MAR – The Earl | East Atlanta, GA, USA
18 MAR – Blue Room, Third Man Records | Nashville, TN, USA
20 MAR – The Empty Bottle | Chicago, IL, USA
21 MAR – Cactus Club | Milwaukee, WI, USA
22 MAR – University of Minnesota: Whole Music Club | Minneapolis, MN, USA
24 MAR – Turntable | Indianapolis, IN, USA
25 MAR – Mahall’s | Lakewood, OH, USA
26 MAR – Longboat Hall | Toronto, ON, CA
28 MAR – Bar Le Ritz | Montreal, QC, CA
29 MAR – Cafe 939 | Boston, MA, USA
30 MAR – Johnny Brendas | Philadelphia, PA, USA
31 MAR – Songbyrd | Washington, DC, USA
02 APR – Bowery Ballroom | New York City, NY, USA
14 MAY – Brudenell Social Club | Leeds, UK
15 MAY – King Tut’s | Glasgow, UK
16 MAY – Bodega | Nottingham, UK
17 MAY – Get Together Festival | Sheffield, UK
18 MAY – Exchange | Bristol, UK
20 MAY – Joiners | Southampton, UK
21 MAY – Patterns | Brighton, UK
22 MAY – Moth Club | London, UK
23 MAY – Deaf Institute | Manchester, UK
25 MAY – Point Éphémère | Paris, FR
26 MAY – Cinetol | Amsterdam, NL
28 MAY – Badehaus | Berlin, Germany
30 MAY – Trepfunt | Ghent, Belgium

Recorded in Manchester and London with Alex Headford (Jadu Heart / Gretel), I Blow Out Big Candles was released digitally in November 2024 via Future Classic. A debut that builds a whole world for it to live in, I Blow Out Big Candles is playful, fun, but not shying away from the darker sides of both sound and psyche, and dreams as big and unshackled as Freak Slug herself. I Blow Out Big Candles was described by Clash as “a bold and assured statement” and Uncut called it, “joyously lo-fi punk and synthpop”, while The Line Of Best Fit named Freak Slug “a compelling artistic force“.

Hugely influenced by ‘90s cult heroes including Ride, Mazzy Star and Stephen Malkmus, Freak Slug is all about hitting a mood. Everything that fuels her creative output is raw, authentic, sometimes weird, but always totally true self-expression. She wants to make music that “has bite”, that “doesn’t fuck about”, that “cuts the shit”. I Blow Out Big Candles is a strong statement of all of this and more.

The name Freak Slug encapsulates Genovese’s artistic world perversely and perfectly. Her previous releases – debut 2020 EP Videos and its viral hit “Radio” (13.5 million Spotify streams and counting), and follow-up EPs I’m In Love (2022) and Viva La Vulva (2023) – might have introduced listeners to a “more summery, happy, LA sound”, but with her debut album, I Blow Out Big Candles, this Slug is burrowing down into evermore unlikely places. As she accurately points out: “The name is giving more grunge than joy”. Down there, picking through the curious mix of sounds and feelings, from nostalgic, ‘90s-influenced and dreamy as well as eccentric and experimental, lives Freak Slug.

I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top) art

I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top)
7 March 2025

Tracklisting:
1 – Ya Ready
2 – Sexy Lemon
3 – Spells
4 – Be Your Girl
5 – Liquorice
6 – Get Away
7 – Shiver
8 – Hello
9 – Witch
10 – Killer
11 – Piece Of Cake
12 – Ugly Smile