NME’s latest stars of The Cover, Chalk, have created an exclusive playlist to accompany the story’s launch – check it out below.
The Belfast dance-punk group are on this week’s (March 2) edition of The Cover, a manifestation of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read Chalk’s profile here, written by Lisa Wright and featuring photography by Glenn Norwood.
Alongside The Cover, Chalk have shared a playlist of ‘Songs To Walk Down The Aisle To’, featuring tracks you might not typically find on a wedding playlist. The duo have chosen songs by the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Death Grips, 2hollis, The Rapture and more for the unconventional selection. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below and on Apple Music.
Duality is key to the music that Chalk make – on their upcoming debut album ‘Crystalpunk’, they merge electronic ideas with those more typical to a guitar band. “We didn’t want to throw anything away that we love for the sake of us now leaning in a more electronic direction,” Ross Cullen tells NME. “We wanted to keep a bit of the grit that came first from being in a guitar band too.”
Those two sides of their sound also act as a purposeful reflection of their hometown of Belfast, bringing together the countercultural movements that have fuelled its youth for decades. “Belfast had an iconic ‘70s punk scene which runs so deep, and then the rave scene in the ‘90s,” says Benedict Goddard. “There’s an anarchic spirit that’s shared in punk and illegal raves, where inherently it’s a reactionary, revolutionary thing to do that [feels very natural to] Belfast. There’s a lot of similarities between the two genres; it’s just being done with different instruments.”
Read Chalk’s full Cover story here and find out who else has been on The Cover here.
Every year, NME produces 50 Cover stories, showcasing the future of music via in-depth profiles and exclusive photoshoots. Check out our coffee table book NME The Cover 2024-2025, which features the likes of Kneecap, Lola Young, Amaarae, LE SSERAFIM, Oklou and many more.