Hotel Lux + The Empire Police + Poor Effort – Tuesday 18th November 2025 | Sunbird Records, Darwen

Sunbird Records and Trust Artists present Hotel Lux

Once contenders for the mantle of Britain’s most self-conscious band guilty, by their own admission, of pandering to audiences’ tastes following their move from Pompey to London

Hotel Lux have crafted an identity that is truly their own on bold debut album ‘Hands Across The Creek’. But in 2020, the roots of Hotel Lux’s transformation were soon in place. The band’s classic influences — Dr Feelgood, The Stranglers, Ian Dury — meshed with the sounds of artists like Neil Young, Brian Eno and The Waterboys, and, in the end, Hotel Lux found themselves “doing the whole ‘haha, that’s what the fourth album will sound like’ thing” on their first, they say. 

They decamped to The Wirral, with Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral; Arctic Monkeys) as multi-faceted influences, £20 Casio keyboards and marauding song structures fell into place. Lead single ‘Common Sense’ was influenced by ‘80s group the Beautiful South and inspired by the RMT strikes, trade union leader Mick Lynch, and the media’s treatment of Jeremy Corbyn. It’s a rhythmic anthem full of funk bass, machine gun snares and clattering guitars reminiscent of Television or Glasgow icons Orange Juice. It’s the band’s most euphoric and danceable single to date. With ‘Hands Across The Creek’ set for release in early 2023, Hotel Lux look set to become something their early critics might have not foreseen: a band full of confidence, with the ability to transcend their peers and carve out their own corner of British music tapestry.

Support comes from The Empire Police and Poor Effort

The Empire Police – Noise from the heart of Lancashire. a four-piece musical powerhouse hailing from Preston.

Since forming in 2015, they have carved their mark within their local scene and beyond, with instantly captivating music and energetic live shows. Their new EP ‘Strange New Places’ is released on October 3rd, featuring four singles the band has put out over the past few months, along with two unreleased tracks.

Recorded at The Grand Studio in Clitheroe, the riff-heavy record centres around themes of self-reflection, personal growth, regret, resentment, and redemption, marking a new era of The Empire Police.

Poor Effort – Built off British mindsets, begrudging bosses and too much telly, the poor effort project launched in mid 2024, gaining radio support from BBC 6 Music, Radio X, BBC Introducing Manchester and features in DIY Magazine & Louder Than War.

Based in Salford – poor effort dips in and out of electronic, hiphop & postpunk experimentation. Known for raw lyricism and a distinct Northern voice, the live show is a vital mix of urban synthpunk, alternative influence and dry
observational poetry.

Having signed with emergent Manchester label Home Taping in partnership with EMI North – poor effort released a debut self-titled EP on October 3rd 2025.