Biography
Drahla brings a cerebral intensity to post-punk through songs shaped by forebears including Wire, the Fall, and This Heat. The U.K. group first operated as a trio, pairing Luciel Brown's deadpan vocals and a commanding rhythm section to deliver alternately ferocious and mesmerizing sounds on the 2019 debut full-length Useless Coordinates. Expansion to a quartet only heightened the music's complexity and emotional force on 2024's angeltape.
The band came together in late 2015 after singer/guitarist Luciel Brown, bassist Rob Riggs, and drummer Mike Ainsley relocated from London to Leeds, where they felt disconnected from the capital. They quickly became fixtures in the city's DIY community. Working with Hookworms' MJ, Drahla issued the debut EP Fictional Decision via A Turntable Friend Records in October 2016. April 2017 brought Faux Text, a limited pressing of 500 copies in the Too Pure Singles Club series; again produced by MJ, the release also introduced collaboration with XAM Duo/Virginia Wing's Chris Duffin, who contributed saxophone. That November the band reconvened with MJ and Duffin for the Third Article EP, which they released themselves on Blank Ad following an initial European tour alongside Metz. The EP drew the interest of Captured Tracks founder Mike Sniper, leading to a signing with the label. In May 2018 Drahla put out A Compact Cassette, a limited tape compiling earlier material, shortly before a run of shows that included Robert Smith's Meltdown Festival. The single Twelve Divisions of the Day arrived in July. During work on their first album, the members departed Leeds, with Brown and Riggs returning to London while Ainsley settled in Wakefield. Once more teaming with Duffin, the trio wove in references to Glenn Miller, Swell Maps, and Japanese synth innovators Mariah. Useless Coordinates, whose title captured the band's unsettled circumstances, emerged in May 2019.
Early 2020 marked the start of sessions for the next collection. The first fruits surfaced with the abrasive "Under the Glass" in August 2022, followed by "Lipsync" the next February. Both tracks featured on April 2024's angeltape, a cathartic reckoning with grief and trauma that introduced guitarist Ewan Barr alongside Duffin's tape loops and saxophone.
The band came together in late 2015 after singer/guitarist Luciel Brown, bassist Rob Riggs, and drummer Mike Ainsley relocated from London to Leeds, where they felt disconnected from the capital. They quickly became fixtures in the city's DIY community. Working with Hookworms' MJ, Drahla issued the debut EP Fictional Decision via A Turntable Friend Records in October 2016. April 2017 brought Faux Text, a limited pressing of 500 copies in the Too Pure Singles Club series; again produced by MJ, the release also introduced collaboration with XAM Duo/Virginia Wing's Chris Duffin, who contributed saxophone. That November the band reconvened with MJ and Duffin for the Third Article EP, which they released themselves on Blank Ad following an initial European tour alongside Metz. The EP drew the interest of Captured Tracks founder Mike Sniper, leading to a signing with the label. In May 2018 Drahla put out A Compact Cassette, a limited tape compiling earlier material, shortly before a run of shows that included Robert Smith's Meltdown Festival. The single Twelve Divisions of the Day arrived in July. During work on their first album, the members departed Leeds, with Brown and Riggs returning to London while Ainsley settled in Wakefield. Once more teaming with Duffin, the trio wove in references to Glenn Miller, Swell Maps, and Japanese synth innovators Mariah. Useless Coordinates, whose title captured the band's unsettled circumstances, emerged in May 2019.
Early 2020 marked the start of sessions for the next collection. The first fruits surfaced with the abrasive "Under the Glass" in August 2022, followed by "Lipsync" the next February. Both tracks featured on April 2024's angeltape, a cathartic reckoning with grief and trauma that introduced guitarist Ewan Barr alongside Duffin's tape loops and saxophone.
Albums
Singles
