Just too much whimsy for me to reasonably deal with. Solid songwriting, but Kevin Barnes' whole schtick exhausts me.

One of the UK’s most hotly anticipated bands, Gathering of Strangers are back with their latest single ‘Red and Gold’. Combining pop pomp and swaggering indie rock sensibility, the five piece have been turning heads since their inception, selling out shows up and down the country, and appearing at such prestigious venues as Manchester’s O2 Ritz and London’s Shepherds Bush Empire.

With a smattering of post-pandemic singles under their belt in the forms of ‘Cherry Red’, ‘Naked and Blind’ and ‘Antidote’, the latter of which receiving air-play on BBC Radio 6 Music,

Kerrang Radio and XS Manchester. the band’s new single ‘Red and Gold’ looks set to do much the same.

Three minutes of hugely anthemic indie rock, it’s a rousing return for the five-piece. Described by the band as being about “having the time of your life with your lover or your family. Simply dancing from sunset to sunrise all night long”, that sense of sheer elation is palpable across the track’s runtime.

"My absolute favourite time of the day is just after sunset, and you have about five minutes when the sun has disappeared, but it has turned the whole sky a golden red. I wanted to capture my feelings during those 5 minutes and put it in a song" explains frontman Conor Rabone.

“Having come out of the pandemic and not being allowed to go anywhere. We felt this was absolutely necessary to write an upbeat, feel-good track to go hand in hand with this beautiful summer of freedom.”

And therein lies both the crux and the appeal of ‘Red and Gold’ a three-minute feel good anthem that’s made for summer festival stages and radio airwaves alike.

James Reid is a UK based Soulful singer songwriter with a real passion for music. James believes music should evoke feelings and emotions and have meaning. With a range of musical influences coming from a wide selection of origins, from soul and blues to RnB, rock and pop, great music was all around him when growing up, with an amazing mixture of old and new influences from artists such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to Sam smith, Adele and many more.

He is keen to point out that everything he listens to directs his musical development in some way. James’s loves being on stage and his live performances have led to him recording and releasing music that is receiving regular press and radio airplay around the world, Gaining great reviews and a growing fan-base. James also enjoys writing new music and is currently working on original material for release soon. With the release of his E.P VERSIONS getting great reviews and accolades around the world, he now has big plans for the future including shows and further studio work already planned. With new original releases the first of which is titled  COME AND LOVE ME his debut single receiving great reviews, chart positions and accolades around the world and his second single CRASHING DOWN winning awards and worldwide press, with further airplay and; chart positions in multiple countries his music has been received very well and James couldn't be happier.