Poignant poetry collides with heavy grunge on M. Woodroe's debut single, creating something tender and abrasive in equal measure.

Recorded by Phoebe Bentham at Brighton Electric and released today, 11 April, 'Carte Blanche' marks the band's arrival with assured alt-rock grit. The influence of 90s PJ Harvey looms beautifully large. Think Rid of Me rewired with the alt-noise of Sonic Youth and the sharp, candid delivery of The Slits' Ari Up.

The track opens with bare chords and a ticking drumbeat, creating a twitchy urgency answered by honest, agitated vocals: "Think you were born in the dark / Cos your skin is so pale / Angry for no good reason / You did nothing then and nothing now." Instrumental restraint gives space for the words to simmer, but 'Carte Blanche' soon erupts into jagged basslines, noisy grunge guitars, crashing cymbals and vocals that twist from spoken word into guttural screams. 

'Carte Blanche' feels like a poetic reckoning with historic irresponsibility and violence. Delicate verses explore the subject of antiquated ignorance through symbols of war and nature with a youthful defiance. In contrast, the chorus startles in its succinct simplicity: "Start stop / Carte Blanche." The freedom to act as one wishes without consideration or consequence, perhaps at once a dagger to the song's subject and a chalice to the writer's freeing fury. The song is poised and pointed, absolutely sure of itself both musically and lyrically.

To celebrate, the band are throwing a single release party at The Cowley Club on Wednesday 16 April. Entry is free, with a suggested £4 donation to raise funds for a local teen recently affected by life-altering paralysis. Good music, doing good.

'Carte Blanche' is a bold and blistering debut from a band to watch bloom in Brighton and beyond.

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