ABQ – Nothing But Empowering

ABQ have nailed an area of the indie scene, and frankly the music world as a whole, that not many others are at the minute; truly huge anthems.

Fully known as Albuquerque, ABQ are the Northern Irish four-piece, now residing in London, turning almost every head in the indie scene. Their own blend of indie pop and rock has been self described as “Full frontal indie pop” with inspiration drawn from the likes of Imagine Dragons and Twenty One Pilots. “Takes So Long” is a massive powerhouse of anthemic sound. The indie pop/rock group have garnered quite a bit of attention recently. With the release of “Takes So Long” that attention can be cemented in for the foreseeable future. It eases you in with beautiful melodic vocals and an emotion filled guitar riff before building itself up to its supermassive chorus.

It’s easy to see this being played to a sold out arena. The slight edge to the indie pop provided by ABQ brings memories of Biffy Clyro’s more anthemic tracks while retaining their own beautiful style. The lyrics are catchy, the tune embeds itself in your mind, and the incredibly produced precision in the track shows how far this band are going to go. Despite the band’s infancy, with ‘Takes So Long’ being the only track on streaming services, the production value of the track and tightness of the music is something even the biggest acts can be envious of. Looking at their inspirations and then back at the track, its clear to see where the huge anthem comes from and where it’ll take them.

Ones to watch is an understatement, “Takes So Long” commands you to listen and draws every emotion out. Back in 2012, ABQ’s lead singer, Paul Shelvin, won the ‘Next Brit Thing’ award helping push ABQ into the limelight as his musical outlet since the award.