Keep it Red in the Metre: A Review of South Arcade’s new EP: PLAY!

Released in late November, South Arcade’s new EP, PLAY! is a high-energy track list with a curious twist at the end. The band, formed in 2021 by four university students – Harmony Cavelle (vocals), Harry Winks (guitar), Ollie Green (bass), and Cody Jones (drums) – has quickly created a niche that feels simultaneously nostalgic and entirely their own. From their early days in Guildford to recent tours across the UK, and a first trip to the U.S., South Arcade has been deliberate in building a presence on social media and an image representative of their music. PLAY! succeeds their debut EP, 2005, released eleven months prior, and offers five tracks: ‘Drive Myself Home,’ ‘Bleed Out,’ ‘Supermodels,’ ‘FEAR OF HEIGHTS,’ and ‘Blood Run Warm.’

Now, their genre is somewhat difficult to pin down, evocative of alternative rock blended with metal blended with pop-punk and electronica. Their style comes from a desire to bring together everything they love about the 2000s, as they indicate in their socials’ hashtags, and in interviews, discussing how artists as different as Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit would be on charts right next to each other. As such, their sound draws from and is reminiscent of the likes of Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani, The 1975, and Linkin Park, as Emily Garner, from Kerrang!, observes. As a side note, the recently re-popularised show Dexter, also falls into their list of inspiration, for a previous single, ‘How 2 Get Away with Murder.’

Vee’s DSM review of 2005 describes the high-energy songs as “playful and engaging if not a little emotionally simplistic […] and, like all good things, just needs a few years to marinate and mature.” If so, it may reflect how the band is in a curious “in-between area,” of generations, as they said in an NME article by Liberty Dunworth, or it may be a matter of imagination and pulling relevance and depth where it is not otherwise handed to you. Regardless, in Play! we certainly see some interesting development.

Their music is undeniably evocative: youthful, restless, and exciting. In this character and growth as a band, their new EP is professional and polished, bringing us an animated list which clearly ‘smells like teen spirit’ (albeit much less disillusioned than Nirvana’s ’90s).

PLAY! opens with the high-energy ‘Drive Myself Home,’ exhibiting Cavelle’s voice, at once cracking and controlled, and an introduction of instrumental parts. The arrangement progresses in waves, peeling back only to jump in again, a reflection of the EP’s oscillation between energy and reflection. ‘Bleed Out’ follows, beginning with Cavelle’s spoken vocals and Green’s voice in layered harmonies, having previously proven popular in backing vocals. Police sirens, division of sound through headphones, and the building tempo give the track a dynamic motion, finishing with highly electronic vocals and textured instruments.

Autotune, prominent but deliberate, becomes a tool for texture rather than correction. It is clear that it is used to enhance the modern, irreverent sound. Throughout, South Arcade does not hide their post-production but uses it well and enjoys its effects.

‘Supermodels’ demonstrates this in a more restrained way: starting with a riff and Cavelle’s measured breathing before the vocals adds interesting variety, a visceral kind of delivery and reception. The restrained guitar rhythm and the vocal line thinning before lashing out creates dynamic shifts and suspense, reflecting the lyrics, “loud […] red in the metre,” yet without overcrowding. By contrast, ‘FEAR OF HEIGHTS’ leans into power and depth: each listen flags up how raw, deep and rich the lead’s voice is, with a raspy quality, and the distorted guitar and beat drops are satisfying while keeping the arrangement clean and smooth. This track is less overt in the merging of genres, more accessible, though certainly not lacking the “pop hook,” Jack Ridsdale from Distorted Sound Magazine mentioned.

It is the closing track, ‘Blood Run Warm,’ that perhaps best reveals the band’s growth. Here, the EP slows, allowing space for vulnerability. It is soft, emotive, in music, lyrics and tone. With a soft bass and clean guitar, this song is more of an indie ballad, giving Cavelle’s voice a whole stage to display itself. It’s vulnerable, like a confession, taking a sudden, pretty flooring, turn from their previous music, stripped back of all the expected chaos to hide behind. Cavelle’s voice proves beautiful in this new style, as if to dispel any debate about quality, while male vocals, likely Green, add subtle harmonies. The track, unlike anything preceding it, certainly follows their statement to Dunworth that “each song has its own world.”

Across the EP, South Arcade strikes a careful balance: cohesive in voice and aesthetic, yet fluid in emotion and style. The first four tracks pulse with energy, and the final track allows reflection, a deliberate arc that shows the band’s capacity to dwell in emotional nuance, proving their range and the maturity of their musical identity.

PLAY! is a confident step forward. It situates South Arcade in a space that is at once contemporary and referential, youthful but reflective, polished yet palpably human. For listeners seeking music that is energetic, layered, and richly arranged, this EP offers a vivid listening experience. They undoubtedly deliver on their claim to Dunworth that this year’s music would “definitely tap into something [they] ha[d]n’t done yet.”

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Edited by Gia Dei, Co-Music Editor.