W: Mandy Morgan. I: Kiah Freer

Manchester-based quartet Worm School—comprising Will Davis (drums, vox), Dan Beach (guitar, vox), Jordan McGuffie (bass), and Liv Du Val (synth, vox)—thrives in the space between melodic, ghostly dream pop and immersive, reverb-drenched walls of sound, all swirling with intricate guitar and sparkling synth lines.

Worm School are set to release their highly anticipated debut single, ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ via the cult label Crafting Room Recordings. The track has already garnered significant attention, securing a First Play on BBC Introducing Manchester following two years spent refining their live sound playing alongside acts like TTSSFU, Bedroom Vacation, and Thistle in and around the city.

Though it’s their first single, Worm School has already attracted the ear of shoegaze royalty. The track boasts a spacious and dreamy production, having been recorded with Ben Easton (Deary) and Dom Freeman, and mastered by Simon Scott (Slowdive).

‘Jacob’s Ladder’ is characterized by its combination of expansive guitar work, ascending bass lines, and hushed vocals. The song meticulously builds from ambient beginnings into a stratospheric shoegaze experience, designed to take the listener on a journey of self-reflection akin to an ascent into the clouds—a true moment of sonic meditation.

‘The name ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ came from Liv’s Cornish roots. It’s named after an infamous flight of stairs in Falmouth. The slow delay on the main guitar line felt like a kind of stairway into something beyond. The whole song came together quickly, and pretty soon became a favourite to play live. We think the name ties together the different parts of the Worm School sound – soft and fragile but also epic and atmospheric.’

‘The idea was that the words are being whispered to you by a mindfulness app, with a kind of predatory sympathy. Like most of our songs, the lyrics evolved gradually after mumbling some random phrases into the mic and feeling our way through it. The song originally had two verses - the second verse’s lyrics were written the day before we went into the recording studio - but we edited it down after agreeing that the world might not be ready for nine minutes’ worth of Worm School heaven, just yet..’