Disclaimer: This review and interview included free tickets to a paid event.

 Have you ever been a fan of an artist already, gone to one of their shows, and left an even bigger fan because of how phenomenal the experience of seeing them live was? That was me with your new favourite band, the alternative-country with shades of indie rock, Divorce, made up of guitarist Adam Peter-Smith, drummer Kasper Sandstrom, and lead vocalists Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and Tiger Cohen-Towell (who is also the bassist), the latter of whom I had the exciting opportunity to interview, which can be found later in this piece.

Before this, I would have considered myself a fairly casual fan. Their debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer, released in March this year, is an album I love, with a whole range of fantastic, memorable songs, but it turns out that their music is simply made for the stage. What is already well worth a listen at home is elevated to must-see status in concert.

Playing at The Globe in Cardiff to a sold-out crowd, they were preceded by the Scottish band Curiosity Shop, who have been supporting Divorce on this leg of the tour. Due to unpredictable travel issues, we didn’t make it in time to see them perform, but on asking a fellow attendee, I was told (very excitedly) that “they were amazing!”

Divorce then came on stage to rapturous applause, launching into fan-favourite track, Karen. The band performed many of their most memorable tracks, incorporating both their big hitters like Antarctica and Checking Out and their deeper cuts like Parachuter and Mercy, all to an infectiously enthusiastic crowd that sang along and danced so well that it would have been worth the price of admission on its own. It may be a smaller venue, yet for a band like Divorce, which almost made the show feel even more alive; the adoration for the band from everyone in the room was palpable.

 It’s even more special, then, that that adoration is reciprocated. Cohen-Towell talked often and proudly of her love of Cardiff in particular, and how her grandfather was Welsh, and in a particularly heartwarming moment, even took a request from one delighted fan in the audience to play deep cut Heaven is a Long Way.

Trying to cite highlights of the show is honestly an impossible task, although limiting myself to just a few: firstly, two brand new songs, the immediately iconic Bone Museum and the still untitled “fake Christmas song” (with the brilliant Yann, a member of Curiosity Shop) were very special to see, and I was instantly hooked. Also, All My Freaks is a personal favourite of mine, and its energetic, anthemic vibes early in the night made one thing clear: this is going to be fun.

I need to mention Pill too—my sister, Dani, who didn’t know any of their music beforehand, turned to me after almost every song to say some variation of “that was brilliant!”, and she has never been more right. Pill is the one that got an especially strong response from her, as she really liked the transition from the upbeat first half to a more low-key ending. That’s something Divorce does especially well: balancing the ballads and the bangers, and everything in between.

If this article reads as me gushing about my appreciation of the band and does not come across as professional at all, let that be more evidence of their prowess. Anyway, buckle up as that’s about to reach a fever pitch (which, funnily enough, is another of their songs) as I ramble about their song Lord. This is the song from their album that I fell head-over-heels in love with from the moment I heard it. It was the one I’ve been looking forward to seeing live since I got the tickets, and it did not disappoint. Hearing Cohen-Towell and Mackenzie-Barrow belting out the line “I can’t explain it, I’m not gonna…” and the almost siren-like call that follows will stay with me forever.

After the final song of the night, the wonderful Hangman, I picked up a postcard with some stunning seahorse art inspired by the lyrics of Lord and another with the Curiosity Shop crow at the merch stand, before—by complete chance—I ran into Tiger Cohen-Towell, who kindly agreed to an impromptu interview. Their beautiful vocals and mesmerising stage presence are rivalled only by how genuinely friendly and down-to-earth they are, and I found their perspective, on everything from Divorce’s music to their love of Cardiff and words of advice to all artists, completely fascinating. Here it is, transcribed (with some questions asked by my sister).

Q&A

Q: What is your favourite song to play?

 T: “My favourite song to play… I think, at the moment, we’ve got a new song which I’m really enjoying playing. I’m not even gonna say the name of it. It’s like a fake Christmas song, but I really… we’re on tour with a band called Curiosity Shop—they’re really great—and they have an accordion player and he’s joining us for a song, and so, yeah, the novelty of that is just really not wearing on me at all. It’s very fresh, so that’s my favourite song; or, one of them!”

Q: How do you put a setlist together?

T: “We never really know what we’re doing with that. You have to guess because you never know exactly how an audience is gonna react. You tend to just, like, take a punt. I mean, you wanna try and make sure the energy is spread out, but you don’t wanna go from a high-energy song to a low-energy song to a high-energy song because that feels quite disjointed, but you wanna make sure there’s not too much of a gap—a lull—you know. I think because we’re the kind of band that plays a variety of songs, on the heavier side to the very, very soft, we do have to grapple with that.”

Q: What’s the story behind the album?

T: “I guess it’s a kind of summary of the way that this first chapter of the band… it’s kind of about feeling placeless—I think placelessness is a big theme on that album—and journey, and trying to take in everything that happens to you, although it’s transient, in real time, and be present. You do, I think, in this industry, have a very big focus on destination, goals and a bucket list things that you want to do, but I think you lose a lot of really good stuff on the way… but yeah, also I think we’re all people outside of music who, as artists, I guess, have had to be transient, and be around, and not really settle, and not have particularly normal routines. So, I think, having “drive to” in the title was important, and “Goldenhammer” is kind of just made-up. I don’t know! Everything about the first album was done along the way, and that feels fitting considering it’s like a drive.”

Q: How do you choose where to play? I know you said your granddad was Welsh, so that probably drew you to Cardiff.

T: “We’ve played in Scotland, Wales and Ireland now. We’ve only ever played in Cardiff in Wales, which I would like to… no, we played Green Man as well, and that was fantastic. That was maybe my favourite show ever, I loved it. It was, like, a gorgeous, sunny weekend as well. But yeah, it’s lovely to play in Cardiff. Cardiff is a great city, people really appreciate music here, so it’s always a pleasure.”

Q: Is there anything you want to talk about—relating to the music or otherwise—that you want people to know?

T: “I would like people to be inspired to make music and other art forms as much as possible and feel that it’s their right to do that. I think we live in an increasingly challenging environment for that. I mean, it’s always been challenging, and I think that capitalism has made it so that, you know, it’s just a given that people will make music for no money, but I think if you have something to say, in music form or any kind of art form, just do it! Don’t think about monetising it, that’s what kills it, even though I know it’s hard out there. I’ve been in a position where I’ve made no money from music, and it’s really hard, but you can do fantastic things if you allow yourself to just be the artist and not feel cringe about it, you know? I think cringe is a very prevalent thing in Gen-Z culture.”

“If you have something to say, say it.”

As if I wasn’t star-struck enough, I also got a photo with Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and Kasper Sandstrom right after, and both were nothing short of absolutely lovely (as well as breathtakingly talented). The experience only confirmed one thing I already knew: Divorce are brilliant—as musicians, as performers, as people. If you listen to one new artist this year, let it be this one. A word to the wise: if you do check them out, make sure you skip a night out or two to save some money. You will want tickets.

Words by Isaak Hewitt

Image Courtesy of Isaak Hewitt