Tulpa: Transfixed Gaze
(Skep Wax)
DL / Streaming
Out Now
Tulpa, one of the latest signings to the Skep Wax label have released their second single, Transfixed Gaze ahead of their album and tour.
Transfixed Gaze, following on from Let’s Make A Tulpa! which was an upbeat crunchy pop song that exploded into a huge chorus. Somewhat in a Breeders vein, that will encourage sober people to throw themselves around their living rooms. The new single is another perfect noise-pop single, hinting that their debut album has many great songs in store. The single is about a world where everywhere you look people seem to be brainwashed, combining zombie-movie paranoia alongside fizzing guitar energy and Josie’s hyper-melodic vocal. I guess the best word to describe this single is probably ‘exhilarating’.
The exciting four piece, based in Leeds, consist of Josie Kirk (vocals, bass), Daniel Hyndman (guitar), Myles Kirk (guitar) and Mike Ainsley (Drums). Daniel was lead guitarist and songwriter in esteemed post-punk band Mush. Whilst Tulpa are nothing like Mush, and yet… all the energy, ambition and inventiveness of that earlier group are still here: it’s just that the creative power has been diverted into the service of a set of pop songs: songs that are in love with melody. Josie Kirk’s irresistible vocal delivery seals the deal…
The debut album, Monster Of The Week is out on 28th November and the first recorded by Jamie Lockhart (The Cribs, Mush, Drahla) at his new studio at Lamigo Bay, in the Highlands of Scotland. Following on from the singles, the record retains the same qualities. A whole set of loud, catchy, perfectly-crafted pop songs have been conjured into existence – and want to be part of your life. Josie’s vocals are cool and crystalline – but the lyrics are warm and human. The twin guitars create a sonic mesh, a web of textures that traps you, whether you like it or not. And yes, something scarier does lie below the surface. Occasionally the guitars force their way to the front, furious and intense, and sometimes those lyrics aren’t as innocent as they first appear. The danger, just below the surface of the songs, is maybe that’s what makes this album so arresting…
Tulpa will be out on tour giving people a taste of the album during October before a ‘home town’ launch show on 29th November at Wharf Chambers in Leeds.
TOUR DATES
26 Oct 2025: Nottingham, The Carousel – matinee show
27 Oct 2025: Ramsgate, Music Hall
28 Oct 2025: Portsmouth, Kola
29 Oct 2025: Bristol, The Lanes
31 Oct 2025: Sheffield, Delicious Clam – Halloween all-dayer
1 Nov 2025: Manchester, Kamera
29 Nov 2025: Leeds, Wharf Chambers
30 Nov 2025: London, The Lexington
For ticket links and more Tulpa visit their LinkTree
Photo’s supplied by Skep Wax
All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree
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