ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND + KLOYD – DUST, BRIGHTON 7.4.26
ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND (20:45 – 21:55)
I appear to be very late to the party, as it was only earlier this year that I first became aware of Art School Girlfriend, the stage name of Welsh musician and singer-songwriter Polly Mackay, when her song ‘The Peaks’ appeared as a recommendation to me on Apple Music back in January. I liked the track, so added the song to my new music playlist that I update every time I hear something that takes my liking.
Polly grew up in Wrexham, North Wales, and previously played in indie bands, The Pleasure Principle and Death Club. Polly moved to London in 2011 with Death Club, and after they disbanded in 2015, sang backing vocals for The Maccabees on their fourth album, ‘Marks To Prove It’. Polly then moved to Margate in 2016 and started her solo project, making music as Art School Girlfriend. She signed to Paul Epworth’s Wolf Tone Records in 2017. Having moved back to London three years later, her debut album, ‘Is It Light Where You Are’, was released in 2021. A second album followed in 2023, titled ‘Soft Landing’, then the third album, ‘Lean In’, was released last month.
Polly provides unique, beautiful dream-like vocals that fit well with the electronic music she produces. Tonight’s performance at Dust venue (courtesy of FORM promoters) is the first of six UK dates to promote the new album. After tonight, Art School Girlfriend play London, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, and finish the tour at Gorilla in Manchester on 16th May. Joining Polly on tour are her wife, Marika Hackman, and Alex Johnson. Polly will be using an Akai MPD226 pad controller and play keys and electric guitar. Marika switches between bass guitar and keyboards and adds backing vocals, while Alex plays drums.
The three musicians enter the stage from the door adjacent to the stage at Dust at 8:45pm and play a 15-song, 70-minute set. ‘The Peaks’ is the first song of the set, and it’s one of seven songs performed from the new album. For this track, Alex uses brushes instead of drumsticks with Marika on bass. ‘Diving’ is next; this is one of the oldest songs of the set, having been released as a single back in 2019. There is warm applause for the opening songs. Polly says, “Thank you so much, this is the first night of the tour and it’s the first time we’re going to play the next song live. I’m a little bit nervous.” They play ‘Down The Line’ and follow up with another new one, ‘The Field’, which at one point sees Alex use a shaker in one hand while drumming with the other.
Polly addresses the packed audience with “Thank you so much, how are we doing? This next one is the first song I ever released nine years ago. It’s called ‘Bending Back’”. Although Polly provides a similar vocal style on the majority of her songs, there is something about them that keeps you interested. They all sound great in their own way. ‘Real Life’ is the first of five songs from the second album ‘Soft Landing’. For this one, Polly has her hands full as she plays keys, guitar, and provides the vocals. For ‘A Place To Lie’, also from the second album, there is a heavier bass sound. Polly introduces the band, then it’s time for the popular ‘L.Y.A.T.T.’ which was the lead single from the new album. In case you were wondering and had not heard the song before, ‘L.Y.A.T.T.’ stands for “Love You All The Time”. This one has a real upbeat tempo with Alex providing thumping bass throughout.
Polly tells us, “That’s enough fun for a bit. We’re going to bring it down now.” It’s back to the dreamy sound with ‘Waves’. This features some pre-recorded vocals towards the end of the track. Two more new ones follow. They are ‘Save Something’ and ‘Doing Laps’. For ‘Save Something’, Alex uses brushes, and for ‘Doing Less’, both Polly and Marika play keys. Following this, there’s a background noise to which Polly tells us, “That’s the smoke machine, not us”. There are a few chuckles, then they move on to ‘Heaven Hanging Low’. There’s more thumping bass throughout the next one, which is the title track from the debut album ‘Is It Light Where You Are’.
“We’ve only got a couple more for you. It’s flown by. We feel fortunate that people can gather in a room and we can perform songs to you. Thank you so much”. They play ‘Out There’, then Polly says “Thank you so much, this is our last song. Thanks to Kloyd and thanks to you all for coming out. This is called ‘Hope More, Hopeless’. See you next time.” This is another track that has a thumping drum beat.
Art School Girlfriend:
Polly Mackey – lead vocals, electric guitar, keyboard, pad controller
Marika Hackman – keys, bass guitar, backing vocals
Alex Johnson – drums
Art School Girlfriend setlist:
‘The Peaks’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
‘Diving’ (a 2019 single)
‘Down The Line’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
‘The Field’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
‘Bending Back’ (from 2017 ‘Measures’ EP)
‘Real Life’ (from 2023 ‘Soft Landing’ album)
‘A Place To Lie’ (from 2023 ‘Soft Landing’ album)
‘L.Y.A.T.T.’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
‘Waves’ (from 2023 ‘Soft Landing’ album)
‘Save Something’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
‘Doing Laps’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
‘Heaven Hanging Low’ (from 2023 ‘Soft Landing’ album)
‘Is It Light Where You Are’ (from 2021 ‘Is It Light Where You Are’ album)
‘Out There’ (from 2023 ‘Soft Landing’ album)
‘Hope More, Hopeless’ (from 2026 ‘Lean In’ album)
KLOYD (19:45 – 20:15)
Yorkshire-raised and London-based electronic artist Kloyd (Kate Lloyd) is tonight’s support act. Kloyd is influenced by Bonobo, Four Ten, and Air. She crafts together ethereal, atmospheric, dreamlike soundscapes. When not performing, Kloyd works as a technical producer for the BBC, controlling the sound for BBC Radio 3. She has also worked on the outside broadcast at The Proms, where she has assisted in the rigging of equipment and mic placement. Previously, she studied Music Production at Leeds Conservatoire.
Tonight’s set gets underway at 7:45pm and lasts 30 minutes. It’s a six-song set that features five tracks from Kloyd’s debut mixtape ‘New Love’, which is set for release on 26th June. All vocals are pre-recorded on the backing track. For tonight’s performance, Kloyd uses an Akai MPD226 pad controller and adds a keyboard on some of the tracks. The opening three tracks segue into each other. The first of these is the only one that doesn’t feature on the upcoming mixtape. It’s ‘0101’, which was the opening track from the 2021 ‘Chapters’ EP. The others are ‘Girl’ and ‘Everything (For You).’ The danceable tracks get some of the crowd moving from the off. The bass beats are heavy and the vocals are light and dreamy in nature.
Following this, there is plenty of applause, and Kloyd says, “Hi everyone, I’m Kloyd. Thanks to Art School Girlfriend. I didn’t expect there to be so many people here. I’m playing new stuff off a new mix album. I’m going to play a track now called ’Stockholm Song’, which coincidentally I made following a trip to Stockholm.” Following ‘Stockholm Song’, Kloyd says, “Thank you. I’m going to play two more songs for you. The first is ‘New Love’, and the second is ‘Far From Us’. Thanks to Art School and thanks to you for being the crowd.” Both these tracks segue into each other.
Kloyd:
Kate Lloyd – pad controller, keyboard
Kloyd setlist:
’0101’ (from 2021 ‘Chapters’ EP)
‘Girl’ (a 2025 single)
‘Everything (For You)’ (unreleased)
‘Stockholm Song’ (unreleased)
‘New Love’ (a 2026 single)
‘Far From Us’ (unreleased)
