The Wytches
Dealing in a dark, grimy variation on psychedelia, the Wytches are a U.K. band whose buzzy, doom-struck rock has earned them a die-hard following. Rising out of Brighton in the mid-2010s, they released a pair of albums for the Heavenly label, including 2014's Bill Ryder-Jones-produced Annabel Dream Reader and its 2016 follow-up, All Your Happy Life. Label and lineup shifts preceded 2020's independently released Three Mile Ditch, after which the Wytches signed with Alcopop! to release their fourth album, Our Guest Can't Be Named, in 2023.
The Wytches were formed in 2011 by singer/guitarist Kristian Bell and drummer Gianni Honey, who had previously been members of the band the Crooked Cranes. Originally from Peterborough, Bell and Honey relocated to Brighton to continue their schooling after the Crooked Cranes split up. After posting flyers on campus looking for a bassist, they settled for the only person who responded, Daniel Rumsey, who had earlier been a member of the Voyage Andromeda and Dan Rumsey & the Bitter End. The new trio initially called themselves the Witches, but in order to distinguish themselves from other groups and make them easier to find via search engines, they soon altered the spelling to the Wytches.
By June 2013, the Wytches had cut their first single, "Beehive Queen," for Hate Hate Hate Records, with a follow-up, "Robe for Juda," appearing six months later. Later that year, the Wytches celebrated their first American release when Fat Possum Records issued the single "Crying Clown." In early 2014, the group signed deals with Heavenly Records in the U.K. and Partisan Records in the U.S. Co-produced by Bell and Bill Ryder-Jones, their debut album, Annabel Dream Reader, arrived in August, eventually reaching number 50 on the U.K. albums chart. A four-song EP, Thunder Lizard's Reprieve, appeared in August 2015, followed a year later by their second album, All Your Happy Life. The latter marked the first appearance of new member Mark Breed, who joined on guitar and keyboards. By 2018, the Wytches had been dropped from both of their labels and endured a subsequent period of inner tumult that saw the departure of founding member Honey. After cancelling a 2019 tour with Drenge, they played a handful of shows with session drummer Demelza Mather.
Still unsigned, the Wytches began the next decade by independently releasing their third record, Three Mile Ditch, on their own Cable Code Records. Recorded and mixed by Luke Oldfield in London, drumming duties were split by the three primary band members. At the top of 2023, the band signed with U.K. indie Alcopop! Records, which released their fourth album, Our Guest Can't Be Named, later that year. Working again with Oldfield, it was self-produced by the band, who then announced touring drummer Mather as a full-fledged member.
© Mark Deming & Timothy Monger /TiVo
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Double World
Alternative & Indie - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 31 Oct 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Our Guest Can't Be Named
Miscellaneous - Released by Alcopop! on 22 Sep 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Three Mile Ditch
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cable Code Records on 13 Nov 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Annabel Dream Reader
Rock - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 25 Aug 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Annabel Dream Reader
Rock - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 25 Aug 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All Your Happy Life
Alternative & Indie - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 30 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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A Love You'll Never Know
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cable Code Records on 24 Jul 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Home Recordings
Alternative & Indie - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 17 Jun 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Gravedweller
Rock - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 10 Feb 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meat Chuck
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cable Code Records on 28 Aug 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
White Cliffs
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cable Code Records on 1 Oct 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
C-Side
Alternative & Indie - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 5 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Burn Out The Bruise
Alternative & Indie - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 13 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Burn Out The Bruise
Rock - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 14 Jul 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wire Frame Mattress
Alternative & Indie - Released by Heavenly Recordings on 12 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo