Billy Nomates shares a new track / video, “saboteur forcefield”, from CACTI, out on 13 January 2023

“saboteur forcefield” follows the release of the BBC Radio 6 Music A-Listed “blue bones”, a gentle, 80s-influenced, synth-pop bop which was a celebration of life, featuring the refrain, “Death don’t turn me on like it used to”, and “balance is gone”, which charted Tor’s attempts to find purpose, and is currently B-Listed at BBC Radio 6 Music. Clash said the following of “balance is gone”, “the superbly minimalist guitar solo is worthy of New Order, while the lyric – “I just go round and round” – has a joyously infectious appeal”, while The Sunday Times described it as “a visceral song where the frustration expressed in the lyrics is reflected in a soundscape full of rough edges and conscious repetition”. The Observer called the track “an electro-pop blinder about the limits of self-care”.

Billy Nomates, who will perform live on Later… With Jools Holland on BBC2 this Saturday 22nd October, today also announces new UK and European live dates for April 2023, which includes a new show in her hometown of Bristol at Marble Factory on 29th April and her biggest headline show to date at London’s Kentish Town Forum on 27th April 2023.

She is also embarking on a nine date tour of the UK next month with a London show at Village Underground on November 22nd which is now sold out, as have dates in Norwich, Bristol and Falmouth. Tickets for all other shows are available here and full live dates are as below, with newly announced ones in bold.

22/11/22 – London – Village Underground – SOLD OUT

23/11/22 – Oxford – The Bullingdon

24/11/22 – Cambridge – MASH

26/11/22 – Norwich – Norwich Arts Centre – SOLD OUT

27/11/22 – Sheffield – Leadmill

28/11/22 – Stoke-on-Trent – Sugarmill

29/11/22 – Liverpool – Arts Club

01/12/22 – Bristol – Trinity – SOLD OUT

03/12/22 – Falmouth – Cornish Bank – SOLD OUT

14/3/23 – Grand Mix, Lille, France

15/3/23 – Petit Bain, Paris, France

16/3/23 – L’astrolabe, Orleans, France

17/3/23 – Rockschool Barbey, Bordeaux, France

20/3/23 – El Sol, Madrid, Spain

22/3/23 – La Nau, Barcelona, Spain

24/3/23 – Le Périscope, Lyon, France

25/3/23 – Covo Club, Bologna, Italy

27/3/23 – Magnolia, Milan, Italy

28/3/23 – Bogen F, Zurich, Switzerland

29/3/23 – Milla, Munich, Germany

31/3/23 Badehaus, Berlin, Germany

1/4/23 – Loppen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2/4/23 – Molotow, Hamburg, Germany

4/4/23 – Blueshell, Cologne, Germany

5/4/23 – Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands

6/4/23 – Botanique Orangerie, Brussels, Belgium

17/4/23 – Tramshed, Cardiff

19/4/23 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

20/4/23 – New Century Hall, Manchester

21/4/23 – Stylus, Leeds

22/4/23 – St Lukes, Glasgow

24/4/23 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle

25/4/23 – Institute 1, Birmingham

27/4/23 – Kentish Town Forum, London

28/4/23 – Chalk, Brighton

29/4/23 – Marble Factory, Bristol

Recorded at her flat and at Invada Studios, CACTI, now available to pre-order and pre-save here, is a huge step up for the artist, who received widespread critical acclaim for her eponymous 2020 debut album, with heavy airplay across BBC Radio 6 Music and support from luminaries such as Iggy Pop, Florence Welsh and Steve Albini.

Though every bit as unrepentant as Billy Nomates’ debut, CACTI comes from a much more exposed place and sees Tor further develop her instinctive, inventive songwriting and production. Unafraid to wade into the traumas of the past two years and the eerie sense of apathy that lingers, alongside heartache and more political themes, the 12-track collection openly confronts uncomfortable truths, as Tor puts it, “70-80% of being bold is about being vulnerable as hell.“

Maries said: “Writing CACTI took just over a year. I wrote very intensely and then none at all. (This seems to be the way I work best). I picked up old drum machines, mapped out things in my kitchen with the same small micro keyboard I always use and then raided the cupboards and rooms at Invada Studios, to play and experiment with old synths, an upright piano, this weird organ thing. I hope everyone finds their own narrative in CACTI. I think it’s about surviving it all.”

CACTI

13 January 2023 

Available as Ltd LP / LP / CD / Digital via Invada Records 

Pre-order/ pre-save here

Tracklist:

balance is gone

black curtains in the bag

blue bones (deathwish)

CACTI

saboteur forcefield

roundabout sadness

spite

fawner

same gun

vertigo

apathy is wild

blackout signal