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EXCLUSIVE: Josh Dewhurst has excellent taste in video games.
More specifically, their soundtracks, as in a recent chat with the Blossoms boys, we found out that their upcoming album was at least partly influenced by a beloved PlayStation 2 classic from 2006.
This is just more proof that you really can find inspiration in just about anything.
Yes, even if only in part, an old video game that many of you may have played back in the day is somehow connected to the latest and technically still yet to be announced release.
We’ve heard of groups such as The 1975 trying to make an album that sounds “as if John Hughes had directed a movie about our lives”, and Red Rum Club leaning further into the growing Western aesthetic with almost every outing, but we never thought we’d hear of a record born out of a love for Bully…
The lads actually touched on that whole ‘still TBC’ when we spoke to them at their studio in Stockport, joking not just about divorce but how they’re baffled by the whole ‘are they working on new music?’ speculation in the media. “Well, yeah, we’re a band – that’s what we do for a living”, as they put it.
But back to the point at hand: lead guitarist Dewhurt’s affection for Bully, a cult favourite PS2 title released by Rockstar Games – the same people behind Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and Red Dead Redemption – and the score behind it, essentially served as a seed for the feel of their newest work.
As he explained above, before being expanded on by frontman and primary lyricist Tom Odgen, they were fortunate enough to be in possession of the details for one half of a duo they both admire: Young Gun Silver Fox, a.k.a. British artist Andy Platts and US multi-talented instrumentalist, Shawn Lee.
Lee also just so happens to be the composer of the original Bully video game soundtrack.
Ultimately, this all came about because Josh contacted him over email simply to praise the game’s music (sure, when he was a teenager, we promise), and only took them until the last year or so to put two and two together. Small world, eh?
It has since occurred to us that we’ve come across him before, too.
For us, it was when playing the first Tales From The Borderlands (a spin-off of the popular action role-playing looter-shooter series that has since been turned into a Hollywood movie), which features his song ‘Kiss The Sky’ and ALSO enjoyed in our late teens.
It still continues to baffle us how things can come full circle like this.
As it turns out, his music appears in various pieces of pop culture, and with Tom professing his love for the funky, bass-forward 80s vibes of Lee and his partner Platts’ stuff, he was then roped in as part of the production team on the hypothetical Blossoms LP number six. Not that we know anything about that…
What has now come out of all this is the previously alluded to lead single entitled ‘Joke About Divorce’, the music video for which dropped last month.
‘Joke About Divorce’ our new single is out now! We love this record, we recorded it live to tape at Tilehouse Studios with Shawn Lee producing. The second we got the mix back it felt like an instant Blossoms classic (if we do say so ourselves)!
Blossoms xhttps://t.co/Wiu5IVQbBN pic.twitter.com/FZ3dJHCmmD
— BLOSSOMS (@BlossomsBand) April 20, 2026
We’re still not sure whether or not this is just the first finished song from the project, the opener or indeed even a title track; all we know is it’s another catchy creation from the Stopfordians.
But yeah, in a roundabout way, somehow that ‘problematic’ game that our parents and teachers complained about when we were kids, either by sheer chance, serendipity or perhaps the divine will of the audio gods, appears to have served as a kind of sonic sapling for a fresh era of the local outfit.
Sadly, we have very little else to offer you in terms of information regarding the ‘as yet confirmed’ next studio release from the Blossoms, but we can tell you we’re very much looking forward to hearing what comes next – especially live.
In case you missed it, they’re headlining this year’s edition of NBHD Weekender music festival at the end of the month; you can see the rest of the lineup down below.
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Featured Images — Rockstar Games/Audio North/Press shot (via Go! Entertainment)
Audio
After All 2026 – the affordable grassroots music festival happening in Northern Quarter
Grassroots music event After All Festival is returning to Manchester this weekend, with rising local artists and affordable tickets.
Now well over half a decade since it was founded, All All Fest takes place in the heart of the Northern Quarter, and this year they’re proving that their slow and steady approach to backing the best new up-and-coming bands at core intimate venues is more important than ever.
With plenty of previous acts having impressed in recent years, we’re looking forward to seeing how 2026 stacks up in comparison to its predecessors.
Increasingly prolific native group Dirty Laces are set to headline the whole thing, Manilla Times are locked in, and Bolton’s very own James Holt also stands out on the lineup, just to highlight a few.
As the festival continues to grow in size and popularity, they have obviously had to scale things up even further this year.
That being said, beloved live music spot and Manc institution, Band on the Wall, is among the chosen arts spaces for this latest iteration.
BoW will be offering up their 500-capacity main room to the organisers for the very first time, serving as the de facto main stage of After All Fest 2026.
Joining them will be the Rose and Monkey next door, as well as cult favourite pub, Gullivers on Oldham Street, who have a long history of supporting local musicians and the arts in general.
Speaking of which, other acts that we’re looking forward to catching include Concrete Club, who featured in our Greater Manchester Artists of the Month round-up a couple of years back, as well as The Information Highway. You can see the full lineup down below.
And would you look at that, now you’ve got all the stage splits and set times, too.
Labelled by Dead Records’ Rob Fiddaman as “one of the UK’s most exciting new music festivals”, homegrown DJing legend Dave Sweetmore has also described it as “unique in so many ways”, hailing it as a “brilliant event with a great atmosphere to discover new music.”
Having been ourselves on multiple occasions since its inception in 2019 – both as Audio North off-duty and as punters before then – we can’t recommend it highly enough.
The latest edition takes place at 12 noon onwards this Saturday until 2am on Sunday, 17 May, and while the cheapest early bird tickets (£16.50) are long gone, general admission tickets are still available, with prices starting from just £20. Grab yours HERE before they sell out.
It’s not the only live music event worth being a part of this month…
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Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied)
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Global girl group Katseye add Manchester to huge new world tour
Katseye have announced a major arena world tour for this year – and the global girl group are coming to Manchester for the first time.
The pop superstars will be performing at the Co-op Live as part of their WILDWORLD TOUR, which is taking them right across the UK, Europe and North America.
Katseye formed through The Debut: Dream Academy, which narrowed 120,000 applicants down to just six talented singers and dancers – though the group will be touring as a five-piece this time (Manon Bannerman has taken a hiatus from the band).
The Los Angeles-based global girl group, formed by HYBE and Geffen Records, merges K-pop dance training with Western pop sounds, with members hailing from across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and beyond.
The group is currently made up of Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Yoonchae Jeung.
Katseye have not yet released a full studio album but have achieved major commercial success with songs like Gabriella, Pinky Up, Gnarly, and Internet Girl.
The group have already performed a major slot at Coachella, as well as taking the stage at the GRAMMY Awards this year where they were also nominated for two awards (including Best New Artist).
Katseye will be releasing their third EP, WILD, this summer ahead of their world tour, which reaches Manchester in September.
Tickets will first be on sale via a Weverse Artist Presale from 11am on Wednesday 20 May, followed by the Katseye.World presale from 3pm.
Fans can also register for presale access by pre-ordering Katseye’s new EP WILD or by signing up – no purchase necessary.
General sale will begin at 3pm on Thursday 21 May HERE.
Katseye WILDWORLD Tour – UK and European dates
- 1 September – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
- 3 September – London, UK – The O2
- 6 September – Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
- 9 September – Paris, France – Accor Arena
- 11 September – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
- 13 September – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
- 15 September – Antwerp, Belgium – AFAS Dome
- 17 September – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
Featured image: Publicity picture
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source themanc.com ’
