With a new album under way and a string of successful festival appearances already under their belts in 2019, an indie band with a Manx heart made a well-received appearance on the Isle of Man.

Penelope Isles performed a short, acoustic gig at Sounds Record, followed by a headline show at the Promenade Suite, at the Villa Marina last weekend, playing a full set of original songs, and showing the local crowd just why they have been snapped up by the record label Bella Union, and feted by Steve Lamacq and BBC 6 Music at the recent South by SouthWest festival in Austin, Texas.

The band are led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Lily Wolter and her brother, singer and guitarist Jack, together with guitarist and bassist Becky Redford and drummer Jack Lowton.

Since putting their name to a contract with Bella Union five months ago, life has started to get very busy for the four-piece.

Their debut single, ’Chlorine’, came out at the start of the year to plenty of acclaim, and was often featured by Lamacq on his daily afternoon show.

With their appearance at the South by South West festival, they are now looking forward to releasing their first album during the summer.

’The ball definitely started going when we signed,; said Jack.

’That made us a lot of connections, and it has been pretty full on ever since, travelling and playing to loads of different people in different places.

’Next thing we know we are playing at the South by South West festival, which I can’t believe was a couple of weeks ago.’

’That was amazing,’ said Lily.

’We were there with thousands of bands who have worked equally as hard as us to be there.

’But everyone who was there has put in a lot of graft to get to that festival. The excitement is very much there and there is a lot of respect for each other.

’All the gigs were showcases, and you are showing off yourself and your music to promoters from all over the world to different labels.

’It’s like a big farmer’s market. Your stood there and the people are basically saying "show us what you’ve got".’

Jack added: ’One of the highlights of joining Bella Union is that you get these doors opened for your, and you get to go on tours you wouldn’t have done otherwise.

’It was like the catalyst for us to crack on and move forward. We were already doing the music side to the best of our ability, but the label has helped us really sink our teeth into moving on.

’It is obviously amazing and really exciting, as every week there is something new happening, like we get all these different offers of opportunities.

’We are excited about it, but we are also dealing with it too, as the industry these days is a bit strange,’ he added.

The group are looking forward to festival appearances around Europe, including the Green Mann and Boardmasters festivals.

Penelope Isles formed after Jack helped Lily record some music she had written at university,

He liked what he heard,and decided to join her and the band in Brighton.

Both Jack and Lily had already cut their teeth in local bands, most notably for Jack with the groups On A Friday, with Harry Radford, and Tiger Years.

’When I first got started playing in bands, it was amazing,’ he said.

’There was a very good scene, and a real positive vibe around there then.

’There were a lot of places to play and they were great days.’

Lily added: ’It was so much fun to play in the pubs here, but there is only so many times you can play them.

’It is was much fun, but I had to go away.

’I wanted to get across and play as much as I could, and it was so expensive getting across all the time.

’It was definitely a good move for us to leave and go across.

’But that means we get to come back every so often & see everyone again.

’It is amazing to come back to the Isle of Man, she said.

’It really feels like you are coming home.

’After we both left, our parents have also moved away. So myself and Jack don’t come back anywhere near as much as we used to.

’But being back here this weekend, it feels like we’ve never left.’

Jack said: ’Growing up here, getting excited about music, playing in front of crowds and playing in the pubs early on.

’These are all things we’ve taken away with us.’

by Mike Wade

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