Heartworms at Band on the Wall

Pulling from gothic post punk and pop, South London’s Jojo Orme – AKA Heartworms – brings her brilliant debut album to Manchester.

Arriving via Speedy Wunderground and produced by the label’s head honcho Dan Carey, Glutton For Punishment rides on motorik menace and industrial pulse. Think Depeche Mode’s precision, PJ Harvey’s poetic bite, and the offbeat dance-punk rhythms of LCD Soundsystem and you’re close. But there’s an unease undercutting it all that’s Orme’s own. Across nine tightly wound tracks she sings about broken families and broken relationships with a feeling that, as the album’s title suggests, she enjoys the chaos. “We’re all so drawn to punishing ourselves, and I’m always drawn to singing about it, and thinking about it,” she says.

It follows the critically acclaimed EP A Comforting Notion. Taut, militaristic, steeped in coldwave minimalism, it served up a disciplined march of precision beats, serrated guitar and spoken delivery. The album widens that scope: more pop sensibility, fuller arrangements, warmer production, yet still packed with tension. Where the EP was about control, the album flirts with release. Standout tracks like ‘Jacked’, ‘Extraordinary Wings’ and ‘Warplane’ offer a mesmerising escape from reality, shot through with softly soaring guitar riffs, cold, crisp synths and Orme’s prophetic, icy vocals. As NME says, “It is rare to see artists come bolting out the gate with such a strong identity, but here is someone who knows exactly who they are, what they want, and still daring to achieve more.”

Expect an intense show at Band on the Wall – equal parts gothic menace and ecstatic release.