Yorkshire outfit Polo may hail from Leeds, but the band’s glacial atmospherics and lush, r’n’b-tinged pop are an ethereal world away from the spit’n’sawdust DIY scene that the city is best known for. It’s the distinctly Polo sound that we hear on new single ‘On My End’, as vocalist Kat explains:
“I feel OME really captures my attitude to a lot of things a lot of the time. It’s basically me putting my fingers in my ears to all the external nags and pressures to do things a certain way. It’s a bit cheeky and to be taken with a pinch of sarcasm.”
Fellow band members Luke and Dan also chime in:
“OME is one of the rare occasions where the first idea, was the only idea. We didn’t even compromise at all. Every idea any one of us had was completely accepted by the rest, we threw everything at it and nothing got rejected, and we resulted in a song that is uniquely Polo, yet still shines as a personal achievement for all of us. The riff, chords and percussion were written on the first ever session and remained unchanged throughout the process. We worked fast, didn’t second guess ourselves and I think you can hear this in the track.”
After receiving the coveted PRS ‘Women Make Music’ grant, Polo released their debut EP, ‘Alice’, in March, 2017. Following this, the trio received high profile coverage from the likes of Noisey, Wonderland, Stereogum, DIY and Clash, as well as multiple BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 plays, XFM play-listing and Amazing Radio play-listing. That year, Polo completed their first UK tour, selling out small venues across the country.
Throughout 2018, Polo have continued to push their niche of affective, dappled synth pop with their most recent single ‘Louder Than Words’. The single propelled Polo to further recognition and affirmed their growing abilities as songwriters of clout even without the extra playful, plinking synth splashes. The track excelled an already impressive festival season, announcing performances at key festivals such as The Great Escape, Live at Leeds, Hit the North, Evolution Emerging, Tramlines and The Great Exhibition of the North. This was complemented by the bands largest and most successful tour to date, a string of Radio 6 plays and the announcement that they will be funded by PRS a second time, proving once again that 2019 will be their year.
In late 2018 Polo signed to Tipping Point Records (The Lake Poets, Eliza and The Bear), Generator’s dedicated Artist Development programme & record label. Listen to “On My End” here or below.
