Pollyfromthedirt, Folk Bitch Trio, Mary Ann Alexander and Chalk: Get to know the four artists who have ushured in the spring this March.

Ah, spring is upon us. Finally, the short, pitch-black days are done, and the daffodils are blossoming. Good times lie ahead. What got us through the last few dreary evenings was much of the biggest and best music releases of the year so far. March has played host to some monumental album drops – kicked off by Harry Styles’ shyly experimental LP and rounded up with RAYE’s grandiose, giant-swinging symphony of heartbreak and hope. 

If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find a plethora of bubbling talent making huge inroads in the year’s third month. There’s masked maverick Pollyfromthedirt, whose sophomore EP is even better than the debut. Melbourne/Naarm-based band Folk Bitch Trio followed up last year’s excellent debut album with a sprawling UK headline tour to propel them among the most promising Australian acts around right now. Keralan singer-songwriter Mary Ann Alexander is putting Indian R&B on the map with a vivacious new EP. And Belfast two-piece Chalk genre-merge like no other on their riotous sonic manifesto of a debut album. 

Keep scrolling to hear from these four titanic talents…

Pollyfromthedirt

Whether from listening to one of his magical early singles – such as “theres no such thing as england” or “a weekend in majorca” – or seeing him at a show towards the backend of last year, those of us lucky to catch Darlington’s masked maverick in his genesis form could quickly see that Pollyfromthedirt has the potential to be seminal. 

After his daring, refreshing debut EP, “The dirt pt. 1”, in November 2025, Polly has now unveiled his follow-up “The dirt pt. 2”. The sophomore is a touch moodier, more mature, and sonically adventurous, diving deeper into his amalgam of musical articulations and cultural delicacies that he alone seems to be able to culminate. Unique and utterly compelling, this is, without hyperbole, one of the most exciting British artists around right now.

Listen to “The dirt pt. 2”…

Read the interview…

Why wear a mask? Why this mask?

It just sums up who I am in a way I can’t really explain. Half of it is wanting to disappear, keeping the focus on the music rather than my face or my story. But the other half is almost the opposite of that. If I’d been making this kind of music as a teenager in Darlington, I’d have got absolutely destroyed for it, even something as small as posting online or being open about your feelings in a song. The mask is a kind of protection from that. It lets me exist in more than one place at once.

What does being English mean to you?

Not much really, but I like referencing specific things that only people who’ve spent time in England would understand. There’s a question at the heart of it about why anyone would anchor themselves to something that doesn’t really exist. But I’m not trying to write people off for it either. The loneliness and neglect that pushes someone toward that kind of thinking. It’s in the fabric of where I’m from.

Do you think people take themselves too seriously? How? 

Probably yeah but I don’t blame them, we’re all insecure. You need to be borderline delusional to want to do something in the music industry. Having a relaxed attitude just takes the pressure off.

What’s your new EP, “The Dirt Pt. 2” about?

Nothing specific, topic-wise, more of a generalised feeling of apathy and boredom mixed with a bit of humour about it all. The first EP came together by accident. The second is on its tenth draft. 

Why do you make music?

Honestly I just fell into it and now I can’t do anything else. Sometimes it makes me feel great, but sometimes it makes me feel worse. When I first got into music, certain songs would make me feel a certain way. I think I’m always trying to replicate that feeling.

Folk Bitch Trio 

Melbourne/Naarm-based three-piece Folk Bitch Trio emerged in 2025 with one of the most emotionally rich and musically serene debut albums of the year in Now Would Be A Good Time. It’s the kind of record that draws you into its intricate web, proving to be more rewarding the further deep into its fantastical hole you dig. 

With new music presumably being worked on, the Aussie trio of Gracie Sinclair (she/her), Jeanie Pilkington (she/her), and Heide Peverelle (they/them) have been on the road of late, playing a variety of shows across the UK (including a huge Scala slot) and Europe. Next up? A trip across the North Atlantic for a series of US shows across May and June. 

Listen to Now Would Be A Good Time…

Read the interview…

The band name is a head-turner. What are the pseudonyms’ origins?

We decided to get together in the backyard to have a sing and start a folk bitch trio. The name stuck and has grown on and with us. We thank our lucky stars we never had to consider picking a band name.

Last year’s debut album, Now Would Be A Good Time, was stunning. How are you feeling now the dust has settled? 

Great. Looking back on the hard work we put in makes the reception of it all the sweeter. Working through a release cycle from album conception, creation, to release and touring for the first time was a great learning curve and coming out of it we’re only more keen to do it all again. 

You’re currently on tour; describe your live show as if it were the plot of a movie? 

Wake up in a strange fog. Open the curtains and rub your eyes, trying to pull from memory where you are as you gaze over a suburban construction site. Possibly on the edge of a highway. Deep green vegetation says you’re in the UK or Europe. Eat, walk around, get in the van and drive for multiple hours. Read, laugh. All of a sudden, it’s the early evening, and the work day is just beginning as you haul massive loads of weight from the back of the van, you would never normally be capable of lifting up 3 flights of stairs. You run to the supermarket and get something weird that you’ll eat half of after you have put on stage makeup that looks insane in real life, and your outfit and thank god for M&S. Look up into the bug eyed faces of your two companions to lock minds grab on to the invisible tether line and run on to the stage to do it all again. Pour heart into the gig. Bright stage lights and glory briefly as you realise people on the other side of the world have connected with music you have written together. Back to earth, as you refrain from hauling aforementioned loads back down the stairs to hell. If feeling energetic, the group will join together for a local spot, absorb the scene and the drop. In the UK, they will get around Old Fashioned’s. The steadfast and benevolent tour manager calls time to go and hails all into the van and on to the next hotel, the next morning, the next day, the next show.  

What’s in your tour survival guide?

Learn the text of the previous answer. Make peace with the fact that the day will repeat for as many days as you are away, only changed by small twists of fate and exercises of free will. Eat well with minimal exception, move every day, keep your mind active, talk to family and friends at home, and remember to enjoy the fact that you’re on an adventure. Be kind to everyone you meet, and everyone you’re travelling with. 

What’s your dream 2026 scenario?

I think we’re already living it. UK / Euro / North American festival and touring schedules. Making more music.

Mary Ann Alexander 

From South India to global recognition and SZA co-signs, Kerala’s songstress Mary Ann Alexander is putting her nation’s R&B scene on the map. Her 2024 collaboration with Sushin Shyam, “Sthuthu”, was a breakout moment – as was featuring on Craig David’s “Commitment – Pt.4” alongside Tiwa Savage – and since, Alexander has gone on to sharpen her sound to the point of leading the global R&B sonic consensus in 2025. 

Early in March, the singer-songwriter shared “Love or a Lesson”, a six-track EP that glistens in the sun. Glossy vocals, luscious grooves, progressive musical choices and serotonin-fuelled timbre make this project an undeniable joy to consume. It’s R&B at its purest – cinematic, colourful and compelling.

Listen to “Love or a Lesson”…

Read the interview…

How did someone from a village in Kerala dream big enough to be a global sensation? 

I actually did not grow up in a village. I grew up in Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala. I spent a lot of my time online, watching YouTubers from around the world. That made the idea of a creative life feel very real to me. Even though I was in a relatively quiet city, the Internet made the world feel wide open.

What draws you to R&B as a genre? 

I grew up waking up to a mixed bag of music my dad would play on his cassette player. It could be A.R. Rahman, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, or film songs from different Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi. But I remember getting especially excited whenever he played Michael Jackson.

When I was 15, a friend put me on to Alina Baraz and Brent Faiyaz. That was a gateway for me to explore artists like Frank Ocean, Daniel Caesar and SZA. Then I worked my way backwards and fuelled my obsession more; I immersed myself in the music from the golden era of rnb and soul: Janet Jackson, Aaliyah, Usher, later Justin Timberlake – and someone who became a huge favourite really quickly was Brandy. Her melodic choices and sense for harmony are just so stimulating for me. But she also has this cool restraint in her tonality that makes her genius so approachable.

What’s your favourite South Indian dish?

There are so many dishes from Kerala that I love, but I especially look forward to summer when mangoes are in season so I can make mango pulissery. I like to describe it as liquid sunshine. It’s tangy, sweet and coconutty, rich from the curd, and balanced with savoury spices and chilli. That with some warm rice and omelette – SLAPS.

What does your debut EP “Love Or A Lesson”, mean to you?

I think the EP reflects the duality of love. The beautiful, euphoric moments where you feel like the main character in your own story, and the humbling moments where love teaches you difficult lessons. “Love Or A Lesson” exists somewhere between those two experiences.

What do you wish more people would ask you?

I’m actually kind of a nerd. I love when someone notices a specific harmony or a note choice and brings it up with me. These are things I spend time on so I’m always happy to geek out and it really makes my day!

Chalk

Chalk is a band rooted in paradox. Crystalpunk, their mind-blowing debut album – one of the best of the year so far – epitomises this. Across the nearly 40-minute runtime, the Belfast duo mix punk and dance, heaviness and lightness, hope and fear, softness and intensity, in a way that is unfamiliar, unusual, and unbelievably listenable. 

Following in the footsteps of Ireland’s recent wave of storytellers – from Fontaines D.C. to The Murder Capital – Chalk are on the darker side of proceedings, but still manage to find humour and beauty in their barn-storming, exasperated musical and lyrical approach. It’s a terrific achievement, and presents Chalk as a complex and uncompromising new force.

Listen to Crystalpunk…

Read the interview…

How did you meet?

We met in film school, collaborating on our graduate film and starting the band as a hobby. As we played and wrote together, it became increasingly serious.

Your blend of dance and punk is unique and thrilling. Where does it stem from?

A lot of it comes from Belfast’s music history. The city has a deep punk lineage going back to the late ’70s, but also a huge dance and club scene that exploded in the ’90s. Those two worlds are part of the city’s DNA, so bringing them together felt very natural to us.

What’s the best thing about being Irish? What’s the worst?

The best thing is the culture. Storytelling, music, humour, and the way people come together. It’s something you carry with you wherever you go. The worst thing? The weather.

Define your debut album as a colour, emotion, and culinary dish?

Colour: silver.

Emotion: euphoria

Dish: Ramen

What drives you to create?

The feeling when a song suddenly works or when a small idea sparks something much bigger. We find creating to be a way to process the world and also escape it for a little bit.

Words – Ben Tibbits