Whitelands
London based four-piece Whitelands are at the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music alongside the likes of Big Joanie and Bob Vylan.
London based four-piece Whitelands are at the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music alongside the likes of Big Joanie and Bob Vylan.
London based four-piece Whitelands are at the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music alongside the likes of Big Joanie and Bob Vylan. Ostensibly a shoegaze band ever since frontman Etienne Quartey-Papafio stumbled across Slowdive’s KEXP session on YouTube in 2019, over the next couple of years they grew from a solo project into the unstoppable force they have become.
After a few DIY releases, they signed with Sonic Cathedral in 2022 and came to the attention of BBC Radio 6 Music and others with a string of instant classic singles. Their debut album Night-bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day came out to great acclaimin early 2024, in the middle of a huge UK tour supporting their heroes Slowdive.
Since then, they have played a number of festivals and other high-profile shows with the likes of High Vis and Sea Power while working on their second album Sunlight Echoes, which is released at the end of January 2026. It mixes the personal and political and, thanks to the masterful mixing of Grammy-winner Eduardo De La Paz, takes their music out of the shoegaze shadows to somewhere bigger, better and brighter.
Featuring the singles ‘Heat Of The Summer’ and ‘Glance’– which came with a video starring David Jonsson and Honor Swinton Byrne–it’s a true statement of intent from this potent and formidable band who have triumphed in the face of adversity.