HotWax – ‘Invite Me, Kindly’ EP review: killer hooks from Britain’s fastest-rising rock band

18 October, 2023

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“We’re currently unknown, and need to prove ourselves,” HotWax drummer Alfie Sayers told NME in April. Since then, the electrifying Hastings rock trio have done that and much more: we named their grungy first EP ‘A Thousand Times’ one of this year’s best debuts, while a frenzied set at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival in July left fans queuing for a chance to squeeze into their packed tent. Later this month, the band will support Royal Blood on a massive tour of the US and UK. Yet it’s their latest EP, ‘Invite Me, Kindly’, that sits as the crowning jewel in a phenomenal year for the band.

READ MORE: HotWax are blazing a scorching trail on the UK’s live scene

With just five tracks to burn through, ‘Invite Me, Kindly’ makes every second essential. There’s a confident swagger to opener ‘High Tea’ and its grooving bass, while follow-up ‘Phone Machine’ carries that energy into a poppy high-tempo hit about re-evaluating the people who are important in your life.

These relationships are the beating heart of ‘Invite Me, Kindly’. “Yeah I wish we both knew, Have I fucked it up for you?” roars singer-guitarist Tallulah Sim-Savage on ‘Drop’, one of the band’s heaviest tracks yet, lashing out over the anger and uncertainty caused by hurting her best friend. Meanwhile, ‘E Flat’ is a cathartic off-your-chest anthem about wanting time to yourself amid the comedown of an intense relationship.

Across the whole EP, each member of HotWax leaves their mark. Sayers’ electrifying drum solo in ‘High Tea’ is a shot of pure adrenaline, while bassist Lola Sam’s riffs tie the band’s alt-rock hooks and grungy sound together. Sim-Savage’s ferocious vocals offer more of the heavy-hitting choruses we heard in earlier singles ‘Treasure’ and ‘Rip It Out’, but there’s a shot of versatility with stripped-back EP-closer ‘She Don’t Like It’. “Magnets in uncertain eyes, strict devotion in her lullabies,” she sings in a strung-out drawl that recalls The Velvet Underground, flitting between crooning and yelling about submitting to a controlling relationship.

With ‘Invite Me, Kindly’, HotWax go above and beyond in proving themselves. For anyone still on the fence, it’s time to believe the hype: this is one of the most exciting up-and-coming bands in Britain, and with their first album still to come, it’s difficult to imagine the heights they’re yet to reach.