Suzie Stapleton // Press

REVIEWS FOR 'WE ARE THE PLAGUE'

Voted Top 20 Albums of 2020 by Louder Than War

"A dazzling debut album of guitar rock, fused with the primal spirit of blues and gospel... Blending the spirit of Patti Smith and PJ Harvey with the soul of Nick Cave and Mark Lanegan"

9/10 - Vive Le Rock

“Rich in texture and exquisitely executed"

MOJO

“Fiery rock poetry, nerve-shredding blues... Dark magnetism”

Classic Rock Magazine

“Beguiling gothic blues soundscapes"

Metal Hammer

"Stapleton's sonorous voice, black velvet guitar tone and atmospheric, dense arrangements in combination with great songs make up the irresistible chiaroscuro charm of We Are The Plague.”

The Age/Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“Darkly hypnotic... guitar playing that would make Jeffrey Lee Pierce proud.”

4/5 Rock & Folk (France)

"While fighting for a better future, "We Are The Plague" never ceases to make your head spin."

10/10 Full Moon Magazine (Czech Republic)

"Her unusual voice with a hint of hoarseness, combined with a harrowing guitar sound and darkened melodies, brings her a comparison with Tom Waits, Patti Smith and Chelsea Wolfe."

BBC Introducing

“Epic... Thalia Zedek jamming with Patti Smith”

RPM Online

"The jury’s in, absolutely no doubt this is my LP of the year so far."

DOWNLOAD PRESS PHOTOS & BIO

RADIO AIRPLAY

UK - BBC 6 Music, Amazing Radio, Resonance FM, Hoxton Radio, Shoreditch Radio, Radio Wigwam, Hardrock Hell Radio ++

AUSTRALIA - Double J, PBS FM, RRR FM, 2SER, Edge Radio, 4ZZZ, RTR FM ++

GERMANY - Radio Eins, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Byte FM ++

FRANCE - RTL2, La Grosse, Allegre FM +

OTHER - Chile, Spain, Italy + more

“This is a lady that is simply too good to be ignored. Suzie Stapleton is gonna be huge. You heard it here first...”

- Louder Than War

“Like many of the best singers Stapleton has an unusual voice. Pervading all her singing is a huskiness that approaches Tom Waits territory, but beneath and supporting that is a supremely delicate and precise feel for the moment...like hearing Cat Power at her very best.”
- The AU Review

“You’d need to bandy around names such as Thurston Moore, PJ Harvey, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Mark Lanegan and Marianne Faithfull… People would get the general idea – yet would still come nowhere close. In fact, what she actually sounds like – more than anything – is Suzie Stapleton. The emerging new wave of assertive and gifted female artists is both urgently needed and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise ever more worrying world."

- Tom Robinson, Fresh On The Net

"It’s rare that a new artist comes along who genuinely defies easy description, but this is certainly the case with Stapleton. Her songs seem to inhabit the dark, intense corners of the soul in a manner not dissimilar to Nick Drake or even Elliott Smith, yet Stapleton’s guitar-playing is at once raw and tender, at times evoking the elemental spirit of Link Wray or ‘Sister’ era Sonic Youth... a bright new star in the ascendant."

- Louder Than War

“The EP is an antidote to the insidious disease that is flaccid pop… There’s a depth of expression and passion on Obladi Diablo you don’t find in the ordinary record.

Pop music… needs a serious prod from songwriters like Suzie Stapleton to remind it just what good music can sound like.”

- Beat Magazine

“Utterly mesmeric, exuding charisma. Fantastic stuff - one to look out for."
- Joe Cushley, Resonance FM UK

“Striking, black-shrouded songwriting...”

- Clash Music

"Those who complain that there are no musicians with star quality anymore should do themselves a favour and check out Suzie and her band’s live debut as a three-piece at Servant Jazz Quarters in London on January 25th. This is an unmissable opportunity to see one of the most exciting emerging talents on the London scene before she hits the big time”
- Louder Than War

“Yesterday’s Town is haunting as it shuffles in before Suzie’s dominant and engaging voice and guitar style enters the fray... It ebbs and flows and paints a mental picture of vast frozen landscapes punctuated only by the harsh music of epic gothic proportions... Suzie has toured with Mick Harvey and Mark Lanegan and, on this brief evidence, it won't be long before they're opening for her.”

- Uber Rock

"There’s hint of fellow countryman Nick Cave about the way the song crashes into an explosive chorus, after a haunting, whispered intro, but Stapleton is no mere slavish copycat. There’s a singular, seductive warmth to her guitar sound and some sublime string-bending on the solo she unleashes towards the end of the track. It’s mature song-writing which should see the London-based Stapleton moving from supporting star to headline act before very long." - Essentially Pop

"The truth is that Suzie Stapleton is streets ahead of so many singer/songwriters that success seems inevitable. I can only assume the majors are scampering with intent toward her right now."

- i94 Bar

"...a gorgeous blend of dark compelling lyrics and looping raw and gentle notes. If you could meld PJ Harvey and Chrissy Hynde together then you are getting somewhere close to the style and presence that she commands in the room, and this is before she has released her debut album. We will be hearing much more from this lady very soon and I certainly plan to be there when it happens."

- Flick of the Finger, Camden Rocks Review

“Suzie Stapleton doesn’t fuck around. Her new release, 5-Track EP ‘Obladi Diablo’ has a Dirty Three and Nick Cave-like gritty Aussie folk quality to it; it breathes and broods and seethes and lives.”

– Milk Bar Mag

“Murky and powerfully voiced ballads from a bluesy Melbourne songstress....She sounds like the devil convincing you to sell your soul."

- Tone Deaf

**All recent reviews have been posted on the Facebook page

LIVE REVIEWS

Liverpool Sound City, Liverpool, May 2016

Camden Rocks Festival, London, June 2016

Mark Lanegan support, Hamburg, May 19 2016 (Geman text)

Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind Support, Glasgow, October 5 2015

Mick Harvey Support, Glasgow, August 2 2015

Mark Lanegan Support, Melbourne, December 11 2014

Headline Show, Brisbane, December 7 2014

OTHER PRESS