NME’s latest stars of The Cover, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, have created an exclusive playlist to accompany the story’s launch – check it out below.
The south London band are on this week’s (June 15) edition of The Cover, a manifestation of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s profile here, written by Lisa Wright and featuring photography by Phoebe Fox.
Alongside their The Cover story, Man/Woman/Chainsaw have curated an exclusive playlist that’s sure to keep your blood pumping at the gym. Their ‘HITS Workout’ playlist includes tracks by Confidence Man, FKA twigs, My Chemical Romance, Nirvana and more. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below and on Apple Music.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw started as experimental teens and took their lead from bands like Black Midi, who had managed to take unlikely instruments and strange sounds and turn them into overground success. Over the last couple of years, though, the south London six-piece have been allowing their more conventionally melodic side in, and finding that their idiosyncrasies and pop smarts can exist in satisfying harmony.
“I remember feeling so desperate to be outrageous as a kid, but it’s actually chill to just be chill,” grins vocalist and bassist Vera Leppänen. “And it’s not like we’re going out of our way to make a Top 40 hit. We’ve never sat in a practice room saying, ‘Guys, we need to write a four-chord pop song right now’.” “We still try to make weird choices because what makes great pop great are the things you wouldn’t quite expect,” agrees singer-guitarist Billy Ward. “But doing weird for weird’s sake is something we [don’t want to do anymore].”
Reaching this realisation has been a slow and steady process that began when the two vocalists started making music together in 2019, aged just 14. A couple of years later, they started performing as Man/Woman/Chainsaw, rounded out by a constantly shapeshifting line-up of “mates playing random instruments”. Pianist Emmie-Mae Avery joined shortly after that, having seen a formative incarnation of the band as her first ever gig. “They said I should hop on and play some keys, and it stuck,” she remembers.
In 2023, when they landed on the solid sextet that they remain today – completed by guitarist Billy Doyle, drummer Lola Cherry and violinist Clio Starwood – the group began to realise the potential that might lie beneath the chaos if they started to sharpen the tools they had. “A lot before [their 2024 single ‘Ode to Clio’] was us solo-ing over each other and this mish-mash of parts,” Avery recalls. “But that felt like the first moment where it sounded like a song rather than a lot of people playing at the same time.”
Read Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s full Cover story here and find out who else has been on The Cover here.
Every year, NME produces 50 Cover stories, showcasing the future of music via in-depth profiles and exclusive photoshoots. Check out our coffee table book NME The Cover 2024-2025, which features the likes of Kneecap, Lola Young, Amaarae, LE SSERAFIM, Oklou and many more.