The Slates Turn Up the Heat with Anthemic New Single ‘Calling Up’
Yorkshire’s rising indie stars The Slates are making their next move, and it’s a big one. With a swelling grassroots following, a string of sold-out shows in Sheffield and Leeds, and an impressive run sharing stages with the likes of The Kairos, The Bracknall, Stanleys, and The Velvet Hands, The Slates are stepping up to the plate in a big way. Their new single ‘Calling Up’, released via This Feeling Records, is the sound of a band ready to move to the next level and it couldn’t have landed at a better time.
From the opening strummed chords to the final soaring chorus, ‘Calling Up’ captures everything that makes The Slates one of the UK’s most exciting young bands. It’s a track that glows with summer energy, a shimmering blend of jangly guitars, tight vocal harmonies, and an undercurrent of emotional depth that elevates it far beyond your standard festival anthem.
Frontman Louis Barnes delivers a charismatic and heartfelt performance, perfectly embodying the track’s bittersweet theme. Beneath the bright indie-pop exterior lies a more introspective core, a reflection on the all-too-familiar feeling of not fitting in.
As Louis puts it, “Calling Up’ reflects on the feeling of rejection and feeling left out. The song actually stems from going out with a group in town and feeling like the odd one out and almost feeling as if being there was pointless. Any attempt to try being included ends up being in vain.”
That emotional honesty, wrapped in a punchy, feel-good package, is fast becoming a hallmark of The Slates’ sound. Produced by Peter Redshaw and mixed and mastered by James Kenosha, ‘Calling Up’ doesn’t just hit you in the heart it makes you want to dance your way through the melancholy. Think The Royston Club with a twist of Wunderhorse, or the youthful urgency of The Enemy but with the guitar shimmer of early Arctic Monkeys.
Still only 19–20 years old, The Slates, made up of Barnes, guitarist Joe Briggs, and bassist Jude Wales, are part of a new indie wave that blends raw emotion with wide-eyed ambition. Since forming in 2022 and releasing their debut EP ‘u wot?’, the trio have rapidly grown from local favourites to serious national contenders. Last year’s riotous single ‘What Have You Done?’ cemented their status as ones to watch, while their early 2025 release ‘Fiesta’ showcased a more punk-infused edge.
Now, with ‘Calling Up’, The Slates are showing just how much range and staying power they really have.
With major festival appearances on the horizon and momentum building behind every release, don’t be surprised if The Slates are the name on everyone’s lips by the end of the summer. ‘Calling Up’ is a call to arms for the outcasts, the dreamers, and anyone who’s ever felt on the outside looking in. But with a tune this infectious, The Slates won’t be on the outside much longer.
Plug in, turn it up, and get ready , The Slates are calling up, and their time is now.
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7th – Sheffield, The Foundry (with The Lilacs)
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