Shady Baby

“We should swear by Shady Baby” Jack Saunders, Radio 1

“Fast and free-spirited…emits this loose and reckless energy that follows what it is to feel both carefree and tied down.” So Young Magazine

“Now Hear This” The Independent

“Arriving full throttle with fire in their bellies” Hard of Hearing

Coming off the back of a performance on the main stage at Y Not Festival, and shows this year with Malice K, Brighton indie-rock project Shady Baby round-off 2024 with the reflective raptures of new cut ‘Held In’.

Keeping its toes dipped in anxieties and euphorias of U.S 90s Alt-Rock,  ‘Held In’ offers a music of resistance and grit; of powering head-on through the heartbreak. Recorded with Dan Crook (Nadine Shah, Nuha Ruby Ra), and mixed by Theo Verney (English Teacher, Lime Garden, Egyptian Blue), the single dovetails driving, pared-back productions and a surging heart-on-sleeve melancholy, exacting Shady Baby’s most mature and emotionally tender offering to date.

Offering more on the track, Project spearhead Sam Leaver says "'Held In' reflects on those lingering dreams that feel real but fade away suddenly when you wake up - so the lyrics are quite loose, with some references to those dreams I was having. The backing vocals, part-sung by my sister, were lifted from the demo and reflect that fading feeling in the chorus. It’s both about that and a sense of renewal and determination to keep moving forwards.”

The solo vehicle for Brighton-based songwriter Sam Leaver, Shady Baby were picked up by Nice Swan Records in 2022 after playing just one gig. Releasing their debut single “Come to Life/Lonely Town” on the tastemaking label - the band won early backing from So Young Magazine, The Independent, DORK, Rough Trade, God is In The TV and Hard of Hearing, earning airplay too on Radio 1 (Jack Saunders), Radio X (John Kennedy) and BBC Introducing.

Invited by Radio X themselves to perform at Y Not festival this summer, a healthy spate of live shows in their native Brighton and across the south of England has brought support slots for the likes of Been Stellar, Personal Trainer, Malice K and Priestgate, plus dates on the DORK Hypelist tour, at Supersonic in Paris, and Mutations Festival