Wyldest

North London's Zoë Mead channels '80s influences into the dream pop project Wyldest, which she launched in 2014 after performing with several local bands as a singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. The effort first took shape as a trio alongside guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mariin Kallikorm and drummer Jack Gooderham. Just weeks after assembling, the group captured the Green Man Rising competition, which granted them a main-stage appearance at that year's Green Man Festival. Their debut EP, Dark Matter, arrived in March 2016 under the guidance of producer Guy Massey and earned favorable notice plus airplay on NME and BBC Radio 1. To sustain momentum while the band prepared its first album, the single “The Poet” surfaced in March 2017. The resulting Dream Chaos landed in 2018, offering an assured, evocative batch of dreamy pop songs laced with shoegaze textures. Mead handled every aspect of 2021's Monthly Friend herself, writing, producing, and mixing the empowering, richly textured set. The darker, more refined Flowers Nightmares followed in 2022, reflecting her collaboration with Luciano Rossi of Idlewild and Dama Scout.