June has arrived and summer is finally here. As this feature goes live on June 21st, the longest day of the year, it seems the perfect excuse to put on some music, pour a cold drink and spend some time discovering a new band. Matters were briefly delayed by Blue the cat, who decided that sitting beside me wasn’t enough – he also needed to sit directly on the laptop keyboard. Once negotiations were concluded, I settled down to spend some time with BITTER KISSES.
BITTER KISSES sent along one of the most succinct press releases I have ever had – I will share it!
“Pop music you can beat your friends up to. Explosive and heavy, Bitter Kisses lead a filthy underground party loaded with infectious grooves and contagious tunes.
BITTER KISSES have quickly made a name for themselves with their high energy live shows and synth-infused blend of Pop Metal and Rock.”
Band members:
Gemma Tracey
Thom Adams
Josh Butcher
Sam Harbridge
The Interview:
Hello Guys, nice to say hello. I’ve been listening to your material on streaming, but what track of yours do you think a new listener should hear first, and what is it about that one that makes it a go to track?
Josh: ‘Dissolve’ would be the first stop for any new fan of BITTER KISSES, it’s got the perfect blend of everything that makes us, “us”. Poppy synths, metal-inspired instrumentation and a groove that won’t let go.
I have just watched “Dissolve” a couple of times – interesting! I liked the mirror concept, the split part of ourselves that we all have. I am occasionally trying to find exactly who I am at the moment, I don’t understand myself sometimes – “confine myself to memory” I think the lyric is….Can you tell me your approach to this one and how you feel about it as a track.
Thom: ‘Dissolve’ is the track that to date I’m most proud of. Up until this point it is the only love song in the BITTER KISSES repertoire and it speaks from a sense of longing for the ability to reach a next level of connection. To create a connection so close that you “dissolve” into each other and become something new entirely. Making the music video for ‘Dissolve’ was a nerve racking experience. It was both Gem and Thom’s directorial debuts so it felt like there was a lot riding on the day and how to make the most of it. If you’ve not watched the video for ‘Dissolve’ (you should, it’s good), the concept was a set split into two “identical” spaces with a mirror hanging in the centre of the room. Then we had two “identical” actors reflecting each other through increasingly warped shenanigans until the boundaries break down and they dissolve from 2 into 1.
I think your music lends itself to the cinematic/visualiser side. You play with strong imagery – “For What it’s Worth” for example – I also think soundtrack to horror style movies would suit! Are your music backgrounds in a melodic punk/cinematic heritage?
BITTER KISSES: Our music backgrounds hark from a variety places. Gem started life surrounded by a family of jazz icons and made her way to the dark side from around the age of 10. Thom was brought up on a mixture of folk music, Bowie and Radiohead and only really came around to the idea of metal within the past 5 or so years. Josh was raised on a healthy diet of the Beatles, the Who and Girls Aloud by his parents until he reached the age at which children develop a rebellious streak. From that day on, he bought himself CDs by bands such as Green Day, My Chemical Romance and a since disgraced Welsh band, whose singer turned out to not be a very nice man with a remarkably stabbable neck.
BITTER KISSES lead a filthy underground party – who are the first 5 names on the guest list (dead or alive).
The band collectively answers:
Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon era)
Dame Judie Dench
The Unabomber
Mr Blobby
The Somerset Gimp Man
Let’s talk AI for a moment. We have certain uses here at the magazine for AI – we have used AI for some of our art work, but we write our own content – sometimes using AI for editing and checking. Does AI have a place in your music?
BITTER KISSES: It’s hard to know where to start with this one, so perhaps just being direct is the best way to go. No, AI does not, has not and will never have a place in our music or creative process.
Making music and art is a part of life and the process of doing so, however challenging or time consuming, is in itself the very essence of being musicians and artists. The creative process is the point of everything we do and to outsource that to a machine that can, by its very nature, only churn out derivative crap, based off of the stolen work of countless real artists, would be totally antithetical to everything we stand for. It’s a technology forced on us by technocrats that intrinsically relies upon the theft of copyrighted material from humans and is something we could never morally support as a creative process.
This extends to how we conduct ourselves not only as musicians with our own work, but also with how we approach others within the creative industry: if we want our music mixed and mastered, we pay a a producer and an engineer to do so, if we want artwork for our music, we pay an artist to make this, either off the back of a brief or with complete creative freedom to interpret our music as they see fit.
AI has its place for sure, in medical science or administration. Art and music is not that place and its continued usage by “creatives” that can only truly be described as frauds should be resisted to our dying breath.
There is a lot of noise out there at the moment for artists to break through and get heard. How do you approach studio time? Are you self-producing in a back room or do you have a regular producer and studio you use?
BITTER KISSES: We start the writing process using our own home studio setups, our aim at this point is to capture the essence of a song that we wish to take further. Once we reach that point we head to the bigger, shinier studio to work with our regular producer Alex Copp. From then on, we get lost in the sauce with him, lose our collective sense of self for about a week or so and then come out the other end with a record.
What plans for 2026 can you share with us?
BITTER KISSES: The first half of 2026 has been a whirlwind of focus getting ‘The Long Way Down’ out into the world. We’re now switching our focus onto capturing the next horizon. We’ve booked-in recording time and, since we’re all out of songs, it’s writing time. The proverbial fire has been lit under our non-proverbial backsides, so we’re off to work!
Fun Question -It is a hard winter’s night. The tour van/bus has broken down and a harsh wind blows through the night. Nearby you see a small house, it seems abandoned, yet there is a fire burning, food on the table and working electricity. While you wait for morning – what book and what film will get you through the night?
Gem –
Film: ‘Hot Fuzz’
Book: Millennium Gothic’ by Dorian Bridges
Thom –
Film: The hit 2007 classic ‘Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium’.
Book: ‘1984’ by George Orwell
Josh –
Film: ‘Food Fight’
Book: ‘House Of Leaves’ by Mark Z Danielewski
“The Long Way Down” EP Review
The EP is out on all platforms as it was released on April 9, 2026. It has five songs and runs at just under 17 minutes.
“Friend of Faux” is the opener and delivers a spiky modern electro pop/punk sound with those dark edges that reminds the listener of what lurks under in the darkness of the cave, the terror beneath the bed (well in my case that is the cat hoping to ambush my feet, but you get my drift) – some guttural touches providing a heavy feel. This track was my introduction to the band and I heard it first accompanied by the official video that I pin below. There is a natural theatricality to the band, exemplified by lead singer Gemma Tracey.
“Trapdoor” continues with that sense of the urban theatre, an adventure in a heavy techno sound. This one has a certain cinematic feeling about it, “we all have a debt to pay” the band tells us and there is something of the asylum seeping through “Trapdoor.”
“Rival” changes direction a little and has a warped ‘Alice in Wonderland’ quality about it. You are wandering through this dystopian dream of BITTER KISSES making the visceral come alive – guitar riffs drive a frantic car on a journey where the driver is barely in control.
“The Plummet.” At just 2:52, ‘The Plummet’ is the EP’s shortest track. . This one has a heavy drum sound, an interesting late song switch in feel and an introduction of a lighter sound. It offers a slightly different flavour within the EP’s overall sound.
“Tamed” leads with a heavy synth sound to close down this sharp EP. I liked the chorus, maybe music to drag your enemy into a private small space to…”forcing me to hate you” – yes…there is a sentiment we can connect to! I liked it.
Taken as a whole, “The Long Way Down” is an impressive release from a band that clearly understands who they are. BITTER KISSES blend modern synth textures, alternative rock energy and metal influences into something that feels both contemporary and distinctive. There is a theatrical quality running throughout the EP, not in an overblown sense, but in the way the songs create atmosphere, tension and imagery.
What struck me most was the band’s confidence. Across just five tracks they establish a clear identity and never sound like they are chasing trends or trying to be something they are not. The songs are concise, energetic and memorable, with enough darkness beneath the surface to keep things interesting.
If you enjoy bands that sit somewhere between alternative rock, pop-infused metal and electronic experimentation, then “The Long Way Down” is well worth your time. BITTER KISSES may describe themselves as leading a filthy underground party, but on the strength of this EP they might not stay underground for very long.
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Stream music from BITTER KISSES here
Artist website here
By Lorraine Foley
and
Mark C. Chambers
Join Rock the Joint Magazine on the road to the best independent music journalism, interviews and reviews. We cover Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues and Christian music. Support us on Ko-Fi (link on each page) to help the magazine grow and value independent journalism.
