Big Deal

Big Deal serves as the creative outlet for Kacey Underwood, a native Californian, and Alice Costelloe, a North Londoner, who together shape wide-eyed, frequently heartbroken songs drawing on folk, grunge, and dream pop. Each musician was already active in separate groups when Costelloe’s mother—employed at the school where Underwood taught music—proposed that the two collaborate. Following the release of several singles, the pair unveiled their intimate debut album, Lights Out, via Mute in 2011. To expand into a quartet for their next record, Costelloe and Underwood recruited two friends. Produced by Rory Attwell, June Gloom from 2013 drew on the noisy and dreamy dimensions of ’90s rock. During the creation of their third album, the self-funded Say Yes, the group ended its association with Mute and had to rebuild after thieves stole the laptop holding their demos. The resulting album, tracked in ten days, appeared on Fat Cat in June 2016.