Issue 23 cover

Issue 23

featuring The Hara New Issue Out Now
EP REVIEW : GIFTHORSE – Queens Of Highgate

W: Maxine Sutton I: Charlie Wright, @photosbycharlie

Release Date: Friday, 17 April 2026

Gifthorse. Their debut EP, Queens Of Highgate, is a glittering, jittery triumph—a "songbook" that feels like it was written in the back of a night bus while wearing vintage silk and smudged eyeliner.

Gifthorse have refined their self-described "Frazzled English Pop" into something that feels both nostalgically familiar and bracingly new. It’s the sound of Naomi Mann’s commanding, whip-smart vocals dancing over synth lines that shimmer like rain on a Camden pavement.

While earlier singles like ‘Love Is a Landslide’ and ‘Please Love Me’ set the bar high, the new additions complete the picture:

  • ‘Silent Disco’: A brilliant exploration of internalised social anxiety. It’s got a rhythmic tension that makes you want to dance even as the lyrics dissect the awkwardness of the modern "night out." It’s lean, infectious, and arguably their catchiest hook to date.
  • ‘Stranger Baby’: This is the EP’s dark horse. It brings a grounded, slightly grittier vulnerability to the record, acting as the perfect counterweight to the more frenetic tracks. It proves that the band can do "slow burn" just as well as they do "anthemic."

Queens Of Highgate is a confident, cohesive debut. It marks the arrival of a band that understands that the best pop music should be a little bit messy, a lot of fun, and deeply, unashamedly British