Pop-rock newcomers BXRRELL have crafted an engaging sound that combines catchy rock with an emo edge and modern pop sensibilities. Critically, they also portray a message about the sad state of affairs with continued misogynistic abuse in the music industry and online.
The band started with singer-songwriter Sophie Burrell, who, four years ago at the age of 20, found an advert of herself on Facebook that she hadn’t agreed to. The advert was littered with spiteful comments and uncalled-for insults from men about her playing and appearance. As a successful young guitarist influencer, whose skills have amassed more than two million online followers and 650k subscribers on YouTube alone, Sophie was understandably shaken. Less understandable, is the fact that she continues to come up against these ridiculous misogynistic comments from small-minded keyboard warriors.
But Sophie has remained cool-headed and channelled the nonsense she describes as “A crackly little detail in the back of my mind, nothing more” into writing music. That includes BXRRELL’s most recent track White Noise, which was fittingly released during Women’s History Month in March.
Sophie met guitarist Sped Spedding and drummer Simon Uselis through the London music circuit. They began connecting via social media and started writing together in 2020, which led to the launch of what they describe as the “many-layered cake” of the multidimensional pop-rock beast that is BXRRELL.
And on the sound the trio have crafted, Sophie tells us: “The BXRRELL sound is pretty guitar driven. Sped and I are guitarists first and foremost, so we have a great time with songwriting and figuring out all the unique ways we can bring guitar to the forefront… as much as possible! It’s pretty multidimensional too; no two songs are quite the same. Our roots are in pop and rock, but we like to bring a lot of variety and depth to our sound and it’s ever-evolving.”
As mentioned, our latest taste of this is the punchy White Noise, which offers more of an 80s-inspired pop-rock feel than some of their previous tracks. It opens up with a noodling guitar lick that drops into a mellow opening verse, which kicks into the engaging chorus “White noise, you’re tough boy. How dare you make me question my right to, Defy you, you’re old news, I’m sick of you, No one is listening to you, White noise, you’re tough boy, How dare you make me question my right to, Defy you, you’re old news, I’m sick of you no one is listening.”
A second verse follows with the punchier lyrics “You’re quick to fire, And I can see you tripping on your tongue, Give you one, Don’t you think you’ve said enough, Speak up please, your stutter is killing me, Yeah I heard what you said, it’s comical honestly, Who put you so high on this pedestal watch you fall, And watch you fall down to the ground right where you belong.” Another chorus follows, before a funky little guitar solo drops into a repeats of the chorus vocals building to a lively outro.
On the track’s release, Sophie said: “The reception for White Noise has been really positive. Every song we’ve released so far has been a little bit different, stylistically. With all of them, you can totally hear it’s us but we were particularly excited to release this one because it’s so groovy, it’s good to move to. The message of the song is one we’re all very passionate about, it delves into hate/negativity and challenging it… something I think everybody can relate to in their own lives. You can expect feel-good, modern pop with an 80s twist and all the guitar parts with White Noise!” Check it out here:
White Noise follows three singles that were released last year, including the excellent UFO, which opens up with interesting electronic beeps leading into a chunky guitar riff supported by a funky lick. Sophie’s engaging vocals take over with more sinister electronic sounds thrown in, before the catchy chorus “Up in the sky, Extraterrestrial, No they can’t deny, Extraterrestrial, Up in the sky, Extraterrestrial, No they can’t deny, Way up high.” The intensity increases after a second chorus with a delicious guitar solo and heavier guitar chords building to a big final blast of the chorus. Check it out in the live performance video here:
There’s also the massively catchy debut single Dare To, which features a powerful singalong chorus and a ripping guitar solo, and the more laid-back Mess With Me, which features a funky heavily pop-inspired chorus.
The BXRRELL sound has been heavily inspired by the likes of Paramore, Billie Eilish, Biffy Clyro, Royal Blood, The 1975 and a plethora of other artists.
And on what inspires them to write music, Sophie explains: “It can be anything! Sometimes we’ll just be playing guitar and develop riffs from there, other times it starts with the meaning and lyrics, and then sometimes a vocal melody will set off the process. Topics I like to lean into with my lyricism include mental health, which is always a consistent topic in our writing, life experiences and how complex humans are… both as individuals and also when it comes to building friendships and relationships.”
There’s plenty more to come from BXRRELL, who will be dropping their debut album this Autumn. They’re also setting out on their debut headline tour across the UK this month alongside punk-rock artist Tilly Kingston. The tour begins on 30 May at Deaf Institute in Manchester before heading to Anarchy Brew in Newcastle on 31 May, Stereo in Glasgow on 2 June, KK Steel Mill in Wolverhampton on 5 June, Islington O2 Academy in London on 6 June, and finishing at Exchange in Bristol on 7 June. Tickets for all those shows are available here.
And Sophie adds: “If we’re near you at any point during our tour, come and dance with us… and bring a friend! We want nothing more than to play for you and take you to a place filled with good vibes and good tunes for an evening, where you can forget about everything else and just be present in the moment. We’d absolutely love to see you!”
You can follow BXRRELL on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. And you can subscribe to Sophie’s YouTube channel.
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