Trust Fund

Trust Fund operates as an ongoing endeavor fronted by vocalist and songwriter Ellis Jones. The project first issued energetic, hook-driven indie rock carrying a lo-fi aesthetic across releases such as the 2015 album No One's Coming for Us, then fell silent from 2018 until 2022, only to reemerge with a gentler approach shaped by 1970s folk-rock on the 2024 full-length Has It Been a While?

Jones assembled Trust Fund near the start of 2011 while based in Bristol, England. Throughout most of its early years the lineup featured a changing roster of supporting players both live and in the studio. Initial output consisted of three self-issued EPs: I've Been Ages in 2012, Don't Let Them Begin in 2013, and a 2014 split with Joanna Gruesome. Turnstile Records subsequently issued the band's 2015 debut LP No One's Coming for Us along with Seems Unfair, which appeared later that year. The following two albums returned to a self-released, home-recorded format—We Have Always Lived in the Harolds in 2016 and Bringing the Backline in 2018—both extending the bright yet unpolished indie-pop style that had defined the group from the outset. Various lineups from this period supported Mitski and Los Campesinos! on tour, the latter sharing noticeable stylistic parallels with Trust Fund.

Jones had already announced prior to Bringing the Backline that the record would close the project, and activity ceased around its 2018 release. The Trust Fund name resurfaced in 2022, however, accompanied by fresh material now aligned with Nick Drake, Karen Dalton, and other introspective 1970s folk figures. This revised direction informed the band's fifth album, Has It Been a While?, issued in November 2024.