Cassia (UK) s Karolina Beranova (CZ)

Cassia find escapism in bright, blissful melodies, but beneath the surface is a deep well of introspection. Together, Rob Ellis (lead vocals/guitar), Lou Cotterill (bass) and Jake Leff (drums) create cathartic songs that take full control of their emotions. “We know each other best through writing music,” Lou says. “It’s all there in the lyrics.”

The feel-good rhythms of debut album Replica (2019) made the Macclesfield band main-stage festival favourites and secured them a live session at BBC Radio 1’s iconic Maida Vale studios. After two long years off the road, the video for surging 2021 single Similar captured the sheer joy of Cassia’s return to the stage. The track’s weighty guitar and uncompromising attitude, a middle-finger to “bad energy”, also marked a second kind of milestone: “We’ve stopped worrying about what a Cassia song is supposed to sound like,” Jake explains with a grin. “Now it’s a whole new world.”