Divorce aren't trying to be cool, instead aiming for a much-needed dose of warmth and kindness.

Words: Finlay Holden.
Photos: Patrick Gunning.

Nottingham-born, London-based quartet Divorce have crafted a fine balance between alternative, country and grunge elements through their first year of releases, and with a second EP, 'Heady Metal', just now arriving, it is impressive how far they have come in so short a period.

With co-vocalists Tiger Cohen-Towel and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow coming straight in from their previous collaborative project Megatrain, much rejigging needed to be done in the wake of a forced reset. Adam Peter Smith and Kasper Sandstrøm were pulled in for guitar and drum duties respectfully, chosen as skilled friends from the local scene, and ever since, they've been together riding the waves of chaos with releases, festivals and tours.

"I think most bands have a pretty chaotic first year," Felix responds to the idea that things got hectic fairly quickly. "It has been nice how quickly people have got the music and how quickly a team's formed around us. We've had a really nice amount of control over what we're doing."

That passionate team was shaped from the get-go as Divorce pestered interesting contacts via email, recruiting a manager and finding their first label in the most DIY way possible. "People who really engaged with it got involved, rather than it feeling like we've ever had to try and convince someone that it's worthwhile," Tiger adds. "Consistently, we've just taken that approach of finding the people who really love it. First and foremost, we want a shared vision with anyone we choose to have on our team, which is important to us all."

Fleshing out a space for their eclectic four-piece to thrive as its own self-controlled entity was a priority when its members weren't sure how many more bands they could be a part of. Sustaining a creative spark is one challenge, but finding sufficient backing to make that your sole focus has proven to be an even bigger issue in recent times.

"We spent a long time experimenting in Megatrain and never really made it out of Nottingham," Felix admits. "The pandemic forced us to be a bit more real about stuff. When you're faced with that much time not doing the one thing you love… I was seriously questioning how much longer I could keep doing music if I didn't give it a proper go. I think all of us were of a certain age where those kinds of life pressures come in; you see your friends starting to move their way off the rental market, or they settle down into proper jobs…"

Tiger picks up that thought. "That feeling also comes from seeing great, promising musicians come and go out of music and being like, okay, that could quite easily be me. We've done more gigs than we ever did before in the last year alone, and just getting it out there and being able to play keeps a project going."

So what makes Divorce stand apart from other projects from an internal perspective? "That comes down a lot to our relationship as a four," Felix suggests. "Without being too wet, there is a huge amount of love. That comes in handy when you end up spending days after days in a van, or in a hotel room - in one big family room, that is – or in a studio. You have to love the people that you're working with in this world, and we're very lucky to do so."

A hunger or craving for the arts is truly a necessity in a world where everyone is fighting for your attention through one channel or another. The word "luck" has been thrown around a few times already, but no band gains a career in music through divine intervention; "Not these days anyway; there isn't enough money in the industry side of it to spend resources on people who don't really want to be there," Felix states matter-of-factly.

Debut single 'Services' immediately offered a fairly theatrical take on the mundane but foundational aspects of pursuing this lifestyle. As Tiger explains, "The song is about going from being an adolescent to being an adult and feeling quite trapped. It definitely came from trying to be a musician, and things sort of muddling along and not really progressing. That notion of being constantly on the move was comforting and made it easy to find some escapism from the shite jobs that I was doing."

Felix adds: "Newport Pagnell service station is always going to look pretty much like Newport Pagnell service station, no matter how messy the rest of your life is."

Unveiling a style born from "alt-country with slight moments of grunge and grittiness," that special take on a coming-of-age tune set a trajectory that the band wouldn't follow too strictly, but it certainly hinted at the range of juxtaposing sonics and leanings for personal storytelling that would only widen later on.

Divorce's success with 2022's debut EP 'Get Mean' has since seen them get picked up by an imprint of major label EMI, but from checking out a few songs, you might think that Divorce are a fairly edgy entity aiming for something niche. On the contrary, there is an accessible element to their performative nature that allows crowds from any walk of life to jump in on the infectious joy they display as they glance sheepishly at each other from across the stage.

"When you talk about accessibility, we're not trying to write songs with the intention of making people like them," Tiger interjects, "but I do think that as a group, we aren't trying to be edgy either. Sometimes that culture of cold coolness, slightly peacocking yourself as a musician, that kind of effortlessness… I don't think any of us want to do that. I really enjoy chatting after shows because it genuinely does mean so much, and we want to reflect that when we're on stage as well."

This recognisable air of appreciation is far from the outdated 'I don't give a shit attitude' as you could get, and that's what the future needs in its cultural scenes. "People are looking for something a little different to the hyper-masculine, super uptight men making loud noise thing," Felix agrees. "A little more softness and warmth, and being okay with moving around a bit, with being expressive - maybe that is kind of in right now. The world has been so consistently horrible for a long time now, so I think people are like, I'd quite like to see people being kind to each other."

"Being a little cringe also means being free," Tiger proposes. "There's been such a massive thing about being cringe lately. That has spread so far that doing harmonies could be seen as cringe. We're not Glee, but just being a bit less bothered about being a bit soppy and wet at times… it doesn't have to be a bad thing if it's done right."

Dodging around expectations with every word, Divorce have nothing set in stone, but they build on their past work with every step forward. Their second, slightly longer EP gives listeners a better idea of their evolving identity; character studies have evolved into broader but more personal stories that put new sounds to work, as exemplified by the droning synths of 'Scratch Your Metal'.

"It was definitely an experiment, that song," Tiger smiles. "It felt like it showed the extremes of what we want to do and that we can do that and might do that again." Felix continues: "We all want to be in a band where you can use a variety of sounds, and things can have juxtaposing sonic palettes, but the songwriting element is the thing that keeps that as a divorce song. We're not afraid to push things outside of what you might expect from them because the songs ultimately all have the same DNA."

They make no promises about their upcoming moves. With two EPs down, the next logical step would be an album, but Divorce are clearly focused on discovering new sides to themselves. "Why not do that in an album?" Felix teases. "The exploration continues!"