There’s a new band that deserves your attention. Hailing from Bristol, splitxlip emerges from the committed creative vision of head honcho Bailey Blair, supported on stage by Mikey Lloyd on guitar and Joe Clements on drums. Boasting a successful career as a songwriter in the global pop and dance scene, Blair got tired of not having control over her output. splitxlip is a reaction to that, a way to reclaim her songs and enjoy music as a form of purposeful personal expression. ‘What You Waiting For?’ is the group’s debut effort, written and produced by Blair and mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragons).
As one can expect from such a strong premise, ‘What You Waiting For?’ is quite convincing and hard-hitting. As debut singles go, this is really good! Drenched in alt-rock and pop-punk euphoria, the record blooms into an electrifying anthem, one where Bailey Blair’s vocals take centre stage and resonate loudly with their bold delivery. The middle spoken-word section is particularly endearing, and certainly quite observant of modern cultural trends. What we appreciate the most is how personal it is to Blair herself: she’s not playing by anyone’s rules anymore.
Delving deeper into the lyrical ethos that propels the project, Blair explains: “A lot of the lyrics probably sound negative on paper because I’m writing about anxiety, loneliness, wasting time or feeling like you’re falling behind. But we want the impact of the music to be positive. We want someone to hear it and go, ‘wow I do that too,’ laugh at themselves a bit, feel less alone and maybe actually go and do the thing they keep saying they’ll do.”
Recommended! Discover ‘What You Waiting For?’ now: