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New kids on the block: Modern Woman bring an ensemble of joyous, bold rock with debut Johnny’s Dreamworld.

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2026 has seen a splurge of new, energetic collectives burst onto the scene as of late. Emboldened with a changing landscape of social media tid-bits and alternatives getting a strong look in with radio stations like 6Music, unadulterated noise usually follows from converted garages.

Something exciting coming from the underground territory is seismic outfit Modern Woman. Art-rock with the right amount of fizzle, the solo-project turn-full-frontal band turn over post-punk, avant-garde and folk inflections into a vivid imagining of abrasive theatrics.

Fork/Heart was the first of theirs I’d heard. I was simply minding my own business, spinning tracks in the background while my mind was preoccupied elsewhere. Not the most ideal set-up when trying to get into the grit of a new artist and a new album. But Fork/Heart may have been the perfect song to snap out of this trance. It’s folky backbone is bewitching before we’re thrown into the enthrals those jagged strings and high-velocity vocals. It’s giving old-school Bjork, a folksy belter of a track. I paused and immediately thought, who is this?

Turns out, it was a band who had nothing to lose and everything to give. Johnny’s Dreamworld is a smargsboard of delights. Even your most snidey music fanatic can find something in here to sit on. I’ve not even got into their most strongest yet either like mammoth driver Dashboard Mary or Neptune Girl; a biting post-punk workout.

The dynamism is what does it for me most. The tender moments met with the loudest smacks. With it, brings together something entirely new. The song-writing is careful and considered and yet, all the more alive.

The first self-titled track is more alternative in the traditional sense, whereas those more bent ideas nearing the end of the record – feel like an almost different being entirely. It’s this unpredictability here that makes this new project so exciting.

We can only be so thankful that the primary songwriting lead of Sophie Harris (that’s the wonderful voice you can hear throughout) saw its potential and upgraded to its beguiling outfit we see in full here.

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** Modern Woman feature at Leeds’ In Colour at Brudenell next week before heading on a tour of their own in October. Their Northern dates are Leeds and Edinburgh while their visits down south sees them at Bristol and London stops.