Self Help

Oxford’s Self Help are a five-piece alt.rock band who’s idiosyncratic sound is as dance-worthy as it is challenging. The band are preparing to release their album Enrage Engage, a record that was borne out of Self Help’s displeasure at seeing the modern world in the state that it’s currently in.

Self Help have the unerring ability to play with genre, their DIY ethics and experimental approach to songwriting manifesting itself into a hazy mix of indie and grunge to alt.rock and post-punk. This has attracted industry tastemakers, with the likes of 6 Music, The Vinyl District, Soundsphere Magazine, Fortitude Magazine, Turn Up The Volume and many more have been struck by the band’s varied sound.

Indeed, Self Help’s appeal has stretched to their contemporaries having supported artists such as Squid, Goat Girl, The Murder Capital, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Animal House. Now, with Enrage Engage due to drop, Self Help are eager to thrive in their own right.

The record plays out in a blast of psychedelia, from the chugging chords and screeching synths of ‘Spaceman’ to the gorgeous chord progression of ‘Do You Really Mean It’. Final single ‘Make It Stop’, which will be released alongside the record itself, creeps into the bleak personal breakdown of a break-up under the blanket of outrageously heavy post-punk soundscapes. Title track ‘Enrage Engage’ offers a heady mix of sardonic lyricism, dissonant melodies, crunchy synths and explosive sonics while ‘I Want You All To Myself’ is characterised by dream-like, hazy vocals and are accented by an intoxicating mix of fuzzy bass lines. ‘Shiva’ impressively treads into Swervedriver territory before the psych doom odyssey of the nine minute long ‘Kick’.

Enrage Engage is a diverse collection of songs taking the stance that everything, no matter how dark, can be tipped on its head and moulded into something relatively musical. The album consists of songs discussing broken dreams, feelings of dread and the ongoing machine that is social interaction over the internet.To celebrate the release of the album, Self Help will play their hometown of Oxford, headlining The Bullingdon Arms on 28th June.

Enrage Engage is due for release on 7th June 2024.