All I want for Christmas is youuu... to come to my headline show in January!

We are finally having another full band headline show, almost a full year on from the last. We’ll be heading to The Engine Room in North Shields. Very excited that the mighty Tommy Arch will be opening the show - if you’re not familiar with Tommy, he’s a phenomenal folk-soul-blues singer songer riding high off the back of his latest EP, The Wind That Blew South.

The Engine Room is the FIRST venue we ever played as a full band, so it feels like a fitting way to start 2026 - We’ve been working on new songs and can’t wait to share them with you all!

The start of this month absolutely wiped me out - I was buried in my final year exams and generally keeping my head down, so I went a bit off-grid for a while. But the second half of November more than made up for it!

First up: we supported the effortlessly cool Cat Ryan at The Grove, and got to hang out with our pals Marketplace again. It was such a fab night of the best local music, and I was very happy to get the last-minute call to join the bill. Huge shoutout to everyone who stopped by the merch table and said hi - we’ve almost sold out of everything thanks to you! Send me a message if you’d like one of the last T-shirts. New designs incoming…

Next came CrewGal’s HoodFest. I always love playing in North Shields, and it was brilliant to see so many artists coming together for a great cause (HoodEx Charity), have a chance to catch up with my good friends at CrewGal HQ, and finally play RED. Watching back the Just What I Do music video they filmed and produced for me was a whole wave of nostalgia… and I had a good laugh with Lee about the official CrewGal ban on polaroids in future videos because it’s now “a Hels thing.” Fair enough if you ask me.

And finally, it was such a joy to meet and support Tommy Arch at ALTR in Tynemouth. Tommy and his band are genuinely some of the kindest and most talented people, and we’re even more excited to share the stage again on January 10th. If any of you are reading this - drink after the show? (Open invitation to everyone, let’s be honest.) A personal highlight was hopping on stage with Tommy to sing harmony on one of his unreleased songs - I’ll never say no to a spontaneous, unrehearsed moment.

Unsympathetic was released on November 13th! You guys ready for some honesty…?

So, I want to be completely honest: most musicians, myself included, can fall into the trap of measuring success through numbers - ticket sales, followers, Spotify streams. And when a release doesn’t perform the way you hoped, it can really sting.

“Unsympathetic” is a long song, it has no chorus (lol), and it definitely veers off the path of my usual sound. Whether those things played a part or not, it clearly hasn’t had much luck with the streaming algorithm - that fickle beast we all love to hate.

But here’s the thing: I am so ridiculously proud of this track. Over the past few weeks, so many people have told me how much they love the new direction (Alanis Morissette has been mentioned more than once, which absolutely made my day). Chris Eggett at Radio Tyneside even texted to say that one of his listeners bought a ticket for my show after hearing it!

So yes, it may not have the flashy numbers we all end up chasing, but the real response - the human response - has meant the world to me. To everyone who has streamed it or sent kind words: thank you. At the end of the day, making music I love and feel proud of is why I do this. The conversations and connections matter so much more than the stats.

That being said - go stream it HAHAHA

It’s been a busy few weeks and I’m excited about a final run of acoustic shows to round out the year.

That’s us done for the year and we will enjoying a break over Christmas :)

For all upcoming shows, click here!

Have a fantastic Christmas everyone! See you in the New Year xxx