ALLEY the band – “Telling Stories”

ALLEY the band are a four-piece from the South Coast of England, and their debut EP Telling Stories is a straightforward introduction that gives you a clear sense of their direction. It’s a five-track project that mixes earlier singles with newer material, and it keeps its focus on everyday situations people actually go through.

“Watching You Leave” lands on a moment that’s hard to ignore and that point where a relationship is done and there’s nothing left to fix. It’s uncomfortable in a real way, and that honesty carries into the rest of the EP. “The Release (Now It’s Over)” shifts toward picking yourself up again, while “Song For A Diva” takes a quieter route, sitting somewhere between taking chances and drifting without much direction.

Halfway in, “La La Land” changes the mood. It plays around with the idea of stepping out of reality for a bit, almost like giving yourself a break from everything else going on. Then “Daytime Drinking” closes things out with a bit more energy, but there’s a darker idea underneath about getting stuck in habits that repeat more than you’d like to admit.

What I took from Telling Stories is how it moves between different sides of life without making a big deal out of it. It keeps things simple and relatable, which makes it easy to sit with from start to finish. If you’re looking for something new this year, keep up with ALLEY the band on social media so you don’t miss what they do next.