Hidden Herd’s New Music Showcase *****

From Soulful Stillness to Noise‑Pop Surge: Four Emerging Voices, One Rising Energy - A Cleverly Curated Night of New Music

Vona Vella + Joe Little + Mookie + Tia Ice – The Hope & Ruin, Brighton, Friday 26th June 2026

Hidden Herd’s latest night at The Hope & Ruin unfolded as a quietly curated exploration of emerging voices. Rather than four discrete sets, the evening felt like a gradual expansion of mood and texture. The showcase traced a thoughtful arc across soul, folk, indie and culminating in Vona Vella’s shifting noise‑leaning guitars.

Tia Ice ****

Tia Ice opened their “journey of sound and movement” with a spoken word poem that set the tone for a performance rooted in softness, reflection and rhythmic ease. Her neo soul grooves settled over the room like warm air, shaped by box drum percussion, mellow sax lines and Latin tinged guitar. Poems and breathing exercises gave the set a meditative undercurrent, while moments such as her dance break during ‘Red Wine’ and the funkier lift of ‘Let’s Ride’ nudged the crowd into motion. She closed with ‘Redefine’, a reggae dub shimmer that left the room in a gentle, summer evening glow.

Mookie *****

Mookie shifted the tone into something more enchanted and windswept. Their alt‑folk/Americana foundation carried a dream‑pop shimmer that made the set feel both earthy and slightly otherworldly. What stood out most was the interplay between celestial harmonies, raw emotional delivery and textured arrangements with tone‑setting keys, and a rhythm section that understood restraint as well as momentum. Even when the music leaned into rockier edges, Mookie maintained an intimacy that drew the audience closer. ‘Set It Free’ brought early dancing, ‘While the Wind Sweeps’ leaned into country warmth, prompting two stepping. The mystical pull of ‘The Bugs’ and the nature‑rooted softness of ‘Stay Wild’ acted as stylistic markers rather than focal points. For a first full band show, it felt remarkably assured. A debut that suggested a genuinely exciting new voice.

Joe Little ****

Joe Little brought the evening into a hazier, more cinematic register. His songwriting sat somewhere between post‑punk introspection and left‑field pop, but the defining quality was emotional transparency. He performed with a quiet intensity that made stillness feel as charged as movement. Spacious guitar lines, brushed drums and subtle dual vocals allowed his voice to hover between fragility and resolve. The room held its breath during ‘Ordinary’, a moment that revealed how effectively he could command silence. When his set lifted into brighter indie territory, Joe maintained a reflective core that gave the performance continuity.

Vona Vella *****

Vona Vella closed the night with a dynamic, shape‑shifting headline set that showcased the extent of their range. Formed around Izzy Davis and Dan Cunningham, the Nottingham band thrived on contrast: distortion against delicacy, harmony against chaos, sweetness against percussive force. Their sound drew from shoegaze, noise-rock and dream‑pop without settling fully into any of them, giving the set a restless, searching energy. Izzy’s vocals cut cleanly through rising walls of noise, while the band moved effortlessly between bright indie pop and more expansive, noise‑leaning passages. New track ‘Rosie Cheeks’ illustrated their ability to pivot between dreamy sweetness and sharper bursts of sound, while ‘Bear Trap’ closed the night with a fast, harmony‑rich rush that sent the room out buzzing.

Where contrasts shaped a coherent whole

Across four contrasting styles, the through‑line was how each artist shaped the room through presence, texture and emotional intent. From Tia Ice’s reflective soul to Mookie’s enchanted folk, through Joe Little’s cinematic haze and into Vona Vella’s dynamic noise‑pop, the evening revealed the breadth of new music emerging in Brighton. Hidden Herd’s instinct for curation remains sharp, as they offered a night that felt diverse yet deeply connected.

Peter Greenfield, July 2026