EBBB + POLLYFROMTHEDIRT – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 17.3.26
This evening we have headed into town to be in the company of the excellent one-of-a-kind London based trio Ebbb, who comprise Will Rowland on vocals, Lev Ceylan on synths, and Scott MacDonald on drums. This week they are on a select headline tour in support of new single ‘Home Ground’ which dropped on 5th March. Tonight they are at The Hope & Ruin on Queens Road, and tomorrow they are at the Moth Club in London, then The Croft in Bristol on Thursday, Gullivers in Manchester on Friday and Mabgate Bleach in Leeds on Saturday 21st March.
Their first released material came out in Summer 2024 with the release of the 5-track ‘All At Once’ EP which dropped via Ninja Tune, which is the home of trailblazing artists like Young Fathers; Black Country, New Road; and yeule. Last year they released a trio of seriously top quality singles, which commenced on 10th July with ‘Manners’, and was followed by ‘Eyes’ on 2nd September, and ‘Book That You Like’ which dropped on 13th November. ‘Book That You Like’ offered a softer, more elegiac side to Ebbb – fusing celestial synths, layered vocals and classical-edged guitars to an insistent beat that hints at the urgent subject matter contained within.
Ebbb have already landed on something truly singular. Fusing pulsing rhythms, immersive electronic production, sparkling melodies, layered vocal harmonies and beats that veer from ambient to industrial, the result is an idiosyncratic hybrid of sounds. One that the group describes as “Brian Wilson meets Death Grips.”
Ebbb were last performing live in action in Brighton on 22nd November last year, and for yours truly this was a hellish date as it signalled the worst clash of gigs all year! A serious decision had to be made! It was a toss up between seeing Ebbb at the Green Door Store, Gary Numan at the Brighton Centre, Bacci Pouch at Dust, or Cabaret Voltaire at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts. I really love all four of these acts and would have honestly gone to them all if I could. Thankfully our team were able to cover 3 of these concerts, and I, myself, opted for Cabaret Voltaire as they are shortly calling it a day. The one that got away was Ebbb, although I had last caught them in action at Patterns as part of the ‘Mutations Festival’ last November. Before this I had the pleasure of catching Ebbb at Concorde 2 as part of ‘Brighton Psych Fest’ on 30.8.24, and at Dust in as part of ‘The Great Escape’ on 18.5.24.
I have been very much looking forward to tonight’s concert as it’s Ebbb’s first ever headline date in Brighton. We are rewarded with a 13 tune set which ran from 9:26pm to 10:15pm. No less than 8 of these songs are still to be released and so the guys are looking to drop further releases this year. Then at some stage, surely a debut album is called for!
At 9:26pm the band’s intro tape kicks in across the venue’s soundsystem and this really sets the mood. Three minutes later the lads take to the stage, with Lev Ceylan on our left (stage right) on synths, backing vocals, and laptop; centre stage is Will Rowland on vocals; and to our right (stage left) is Scott MacDonald on drums. They kick off with the yet to be released ‘Shallow Hits’, which turns out to be a continuation of the intro. Lev’s Korg is sounding great, Will’s vocals are in their trademark multitracked echo style, and Scott’s drumming is really solid. The song has an Arabic hypnotic feel and it nicely sets the tone of the set. Their 2025 single ‘Manners’ comes next with its faster banging beat and Will’s slower vocal delivery. There are many layers of sound which gives the impression that there are more than just three chaps on stage. The drumbeat is again really solid, and Will sets about dancing his way around the ring as he makes boxing motions to the beat, which is the same actions that Richard Jobson of the Skids and Jeff Geggus (“Stinky” Turner) of the Cockney Rejects tend to do.
The punters are already well and truly behind the band and the set already has the sweet smell of success in the air. Tune three is the unreleased ‘Pander’ with its repeated “Pander to you sometimes” lyrics. Their ‘Eyes’ single from last year is the next outing and this is an epic number which witnesses the two worlds of M83 and The Beach Boys clashing together in a juxtaposition kinda way which works so wonderfully well. The soulful beat of the unreleased ‘Now You Know’ follows with its often repeated song title. New single ‘Home Ground’ is next and this further sits in M83 territory and certain works of the likes of Moby also come to mind. The sole survivor from 2024’s ‘All At Once’ EP is up next in the form of ‘Himmel’. This sees Will offering angelic vocals to begin with and then Scott joins in on the drums which are hit with nylon tipped drumsticks, which look like giant cotton buds. Lev then comes to the party and it’s a very ethereal number.
More further unreleased tunes come next, with the first of these being ‘Remedy’ which is a slowie in the set with a skippy beat and ends on a distant sounding piano. The second unreleased one was ‘Side On’ which starts slowly and builds you into a false sense of security before the drum and bass beat explode into action, only to fade back and forth. Some of Lev’s Korg keys here reminded me of New Order. Ebbb’s 2025 single ‘Book That You Like’ certainly upped the ante with its Jessie Ware ‘110%’ meets Joe Jackson’s ‘Steppin’ Out’ style racing backbeat. It’s impossible not to boogie to the track. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, the yet to be released ‘Come Alive’ arrived. This has a slow keys intro which does “come alive” and they reminded me of the criminally underrated British synthpoppers New Musik, who are best remembered for ‘Living By Numbers’. Talk Talk also sprang to mind here. My notes on the track read “Tuuuuune!”.
Their final two cuts were also not yet released. The first of these was ‘Not Enough’ with its often repeated “I Am Not Enough” sampled backing vocals, which are added to with live vocals from Will as her perches on the front speaker. Scott then unleashes a frenzied attack on his drumkit. They leave us with ‘Moving On’ which features some great Korg keys and alternate drum and cymbal action, with a pounding dance beat. “What is this for?” is repeated by Will as Scoot delivers some excellent kick drum action. It’s all over, but Will announces “We will be releasing a ton of music this year!” which is enthusiastically met by a seal of approval from those gathered. It really goes without saying that Ebbb have yet again seriously delivered, and I’m very much looking forward to their releases and their return to Brighton.
Ebbb:
Will Rowland – vocals
Lev Ceylan – synths, backing vocals, laptop
Scott MacDonald – drums
Ebbb setlist:
‘Shallow Hits’ (unreleased)
‘Manners’ (a 2025 single)
‘Pander’ (unreleased)
‘Eyes’ (a 2025 single)
‘Now You Know’ (unreleased)
‘Home Ground’ (a 2026 single)
‘Himmel’ (from 2024 ‘All At Once’ EP)
‘Remedy’ (unreleased)
‘Side On’ (unreleased)
‘Book That You Like’ (a 2025 single)
‘Come Alive’ (unreleased)
‘Not Enough’ (unreleased)
‘Moving On’ (unreleased)
www.instagram.com/ebbbbbbbbbbbbb_
Support this evening came from the mysterious Pollyfromthedirt which is a masked chap who hails from Darlington. His name remains an undisclosed secret but his mothers name is “Polly” and she is from Darlington, which is sometimes referred to as being “in the dirt” (historically, “Darnton i’ the Dirt”), a 17th-century description of the town – hence Pollyfromthedirt. Although I understand that the most common slang name for Darlington is “Darlo”, and ‘Darlos Cowboys’ being the title of one of Pollyfromthedirt’s single releases from last year. His debut EP runs along the same field as it is titled ‘The Dirt Pt.1’.
Tonight we are given an intriguing 32 minute set which ran from 8:31pm to 9:03pm, and comprised 7 varying sounding self-penned compositions. His tools of the trade being a Gould acoustic guitar, a laptop, and an electronics setup. For the whole event, he wears a mask with the mouth area free so that he can sing properly, and sizeable headphones. Five of the seven songs are found on his EP, with the first of these being ‘Kalm’ which features noises that are live-looped and they build accordingly. It is immediately understandable why Pollyfromthedirt has been selected as tour support for Ebbb.
The aforementioned ‘Darlos Cowboys’ is selection three and it, like the opener, is an arguably experimental piece with repeated samples and a solo electronic drumbeat, which is then accompanied by a deep floor shaking bass sound. The Gould guitar is utilized on the yet to be released ‘Sounds Like Hell’ which is a slower chugging offering. The guitar is quiet on account of the foot switch not being turned on…cue sound engineer to the rescue. Offering four was another unreleased track, this being ‘Blow My Lid’ which features the guitar which is now amped up, and there’s further deep bass electronic booms on offer here. We are informed that the tune is about Manchester, and it’s a more melodic offering than its predecessor.
Selection five is ‘A Weekend In Majorca’ which is a ballad and so is solely vocals and a guitar. His lungs on this tune are given a serious workout. Our mystery man then informs us it seems as though all of his songs either have a place or people’s names in them. The penultimate track was ‘Cherry Seeds’ which sees him flitting between the two two microphones for a different sound. The guitar is not used as it’s all electronic beats, however it returns for the final track, the ‘There’s No Such Thing As England’ single, which also features more electronics. It’s an eclectic performance that one had to greet with an open mind. Thankfully the Ebbb punters are such a crowd, and thus on set completion Pollyfromthedirt was amply rewarded with much hearty applause.
Polyfromthedirt:
“Polly’s son” – vocals, electronics, acoustic guitar
Polyfromthedirt setlist:
‘Kalm’ (from 2025 ‘The Dirt Pt.1’ EP)
‘Darlos Cowboys’ (from 2025 ‘The Dirt Pt.1’ EP)
‘Sounds Like Hell’ (unreleased)
‘Blow My Lid’ (unreleased)
‘A Weekend In Majorca’ (from 2025 ‘The Dirt Pt.1’ EP)
‘Cherry Seeds’ (from 2025 ‘The Dirt Pt.1’ EP)
‘There’s No Such Thing As England’ (from 2025 ‘The Dirt Pt.1’ EP)
www.instagram.com/pollyfromthedirt
