LeftLion's Latest Listens #48: Notts music we're currently spinning

EP: Allotment Tapes - Ben McElroy

Earlier this year, local composer Ben McElroy started work on a project that captures the atmosphere of our city’s well loved St Anne’s Allotments: one of the oldest and largest Victorian town allotments in the country. Through the tapes you feel a fantastical atmosphere – closing your eyes while listening transports you to those Victorian plots, sampling the fruits and vegetables grown there. At one point, the bow of the violin pauses to let through the voice of local artist and gardener Val Turton, who describes the allotment as “more than enough” for her – how she enjoys the “rhythm of nature”, which meshes with the music.

Another edition with community organiser Rachel Brooke outlines that “we are all visitors here” to the Allotments, and that it truly belongs to the plants and animals, echoing a time gone by where humans would co-exist within. The project is ongoing throughout 2026, but you can listen to tapes 1-6 on Ben’s Bandcamp. @ben_mcelroy_music (Jack Fovargue)

EP: KID SPIRIT - Morning Star

Notts newcomers KID SPIRIT channel futurist indie pop on this debut EP, something that hits refreshingly in the height of summer.  

Lead single Barriers is a joyous delve into a tortured soul bound to erupt into a gamut of different emotions, from agony to ecstasy, which is well developed by Luke Parker’s hallucinogenic vocals entangled within the blanket of swooning riffs and a matching, stomping backbeat. There is an undercurrent of genres from all eras: The electric, heart-pumping sounds of The Killers to post-rock ambience, with the thrilling joyride of summertime indie acts such as Alvvays bringing up the rear.

Despite this EP consisting of only three tracks, it delivers on  depth and impact without the need for  more material to stimulate the listener. Sometimes an EP overloaded with tracks can disappoint - giving too much away and becoming “all filler no killer”. KID SPIRIT avoids this trap entirely.

Different delivers a similar emotional evocation. Parker’s vocals once again loop around ethereal synths and shoegazy riffs whilst the rumbling pitter-patter of drums are the final ingredient added to this tornado of noise.

The final track, Receiver, is the longest of the three and a fine way to finish. The next five minutes are another dive into the band’s worldview: a world bound by the need for human connection in a reality that, in large parts, is devoid of it. Parker’s lyrics evoke sensory imagery that pieces together different facets of human consciousness, particularly in the opening verse: "Calling receiver / get me up in the air / Spin me like a vortex / get me out of here.”  This is a direct address to the listener - a call for help that we feel compelled to answer.  

Meanwhile, Lewis “Ducky” Duckworth is on hand to produce a ringing riff that sings on its strings,  conjuring  up vivid movements of sound. It becomes the vital third ingredient in a triangular marriage of words, sound, and motion.

The final track completes the spiritual journey KID SPIRIT has taken us on, one which aims to assist the  listener uncover something about themselves just as much as what they uncover what the group is all about. @kid.spirit.band (Lewis Oxley)

Album: E.R. Thorpe - Human Love

Back in March, Nottinghamshire singer-songwriter and visual artist Emma Thorpe created something singularly beautiful in the shape of Human Love. It's an album which deserves closer, careful attention. The title track grabs quickly thanks to the superbly balanced cadences, picked out by piano and guitar, which provide a gossamer framework for Emma's haunting vocals. A harmonica provides a doleful nod to the genre, while further layers of voice and instrument collaborate to build the song into a high quality, memorable work. 

And that's only the first track. The album continues to open carefully, like pages of a treasured, rediscovered book. There are multiple aspects of this artist to be discovered throughout, whether the darkened tones of Misery, the laid-back yet menacing jazz of Dinner For One or the trad-meets-retro-electro managed chaos of Disarray.

Emma takes a firmly poetic approach to her lyrics, and is not afraid to take forays into experimental sounds and patterns - or to look into the darker corners or her creativity and grapple thoroughly with what lurks there. @e.r.thorpe (Phil Taylor)