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“Everybody say ‘Free Palestine!’” Noname demands during an a capella rendition of the war-condemning, materialism-bashing track ‘Namesake’. With candor and eagerness, the crowd instantly obliges and a unified chant echoes and bounces off the walls of the west London venue. A smile flashes across her face, before she continues rapping the rest of the track: “Watch the fighter jet fly high, War machine gets glamorised”.
Noname’s newest album ‘Sundial’, released in 2023, is her third full-length project, succeeding 2018 breakout ‘Room 25’ and 2016 debut mixtape ‘Telefone’. But, after announcing that she wanted to quit music in 2019, yet sporadically releasing tracks, and also cancelling her long-anticipated 2021 album – her first tour in four years is a welcome treat for fans in the UK who are eager to know what’s next. “Who’s been here since ‘Telefone’?” she asks the crowd mid-set as thousands of voices scream back at her. She pauses, and thanks her audience for their support.
To the joy of her dedicated fans, the set is tastefully sprinkled with tracks spanning her entire discography and works. She cheekily raps J Cole diss track ‘Song 33’, hops around stage during Sundial track ‘Boomboom’, eagerly evokes crowd reaction during ‘Rainforest’ and sways with joy during encore closer ‘Shadowman’.
But most notably, the crowd is particularly receptive to many of Noname’s outwardly political lyrics. During set opener ‘Self’, the crowd scream the lyric “my pussy wrote a thesis in colonialism”; during ‘Sundial track’ ‘hold me down’, the crowd-sung lyric “first Black President and he the one that bombed us” feels louder than all others. Perhaps this impassioned chanting of lyrics it’s a reflection of our polarised political climate, or maybe it’s pure admiration for Noname’s audacious and earnest writing skills. From the atmosphere felt in the pit, it’s a healthy mix of both.
In 2019, Noname also expressed her frustration around performing to predominantly white crowds and during her return to London this evening she comments on the audience being “more white than expected”. However upon calls for Black people in the crowd, especially women, there’s a multitude of cheers roaring from across the pit and seated area, potentially signifying a slow shift in demographics from her shows in the 2010s.
At times the sound mix in the room leaves looks of disappointment across the audience hall. We’re keen to pick apart at the nuances of Noname’s tone and delivery of words – her lyricism is what helped propel her to mainstream spaces – but we’re instead met with bleeding sound from the speakers and words missed entirely. Although, this does not take away from the effort of Noname and her entire band. Her status as a multi-hyphenate performer, musician, and slam poet is solidified during this show; her dynamic stage presence and control, self-awareness, and ability to tell stories through performance keeps all eyes on her throughout.
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Slayyyter played her take on Turnstile’s ‘Birds’ onstage for the first time in Atlanta. You can watch footage of the performance below.
Slayyyter is currently touring with her ‘Wor$t Girl In The World’ show. She added the cover to her set at The Eastern on Monday night (September 21).
She sang ‘Birds: Slayyyter Version’ near the end of the main set, following ‘Brittany Murphy’. She then came back for an encore featuring ‘Brand New Chanel$’ and ‘Beat Up Chanel$’.
It was her first live performance of the song. She originally recorded it for Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough: Versions’, a collection of reworked tracks released on August 28.
The 22 track release brings together new interpretations of songs from Turnstile’s fourth album. Contributors include Elton John, Hayley Williams, Blood Orange, A. G. Cook, Faye Webster, Four Tet, Oklou, Floating Points, Nourished By Time, Alex G, Julien Baker and Mustafa.
Panda Bear recorded a new take on ‘Magic Man’, while Dying Fetus gave ‘Birds’ another interpretation rooted in death metal.
See Slayyyter perform the track live and listen to her studio recording here:
Slayyyter trades the original song’s hardcore intensity for a bigger electronic sound that feels at home alongside her latest album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’.
Turnstile first released ‘Birds’ on their 2025 album ‘Never Enough’. The song won Best Metal Performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, where the album also won Best Rock Album.
In its five star review of ‘Never Enough’, NME pointed to ‘Birds’ and ‘Sole’ as reminders of Turnstile’s hardcore beginnings. It also praised the album for “furthering their unique, pop-facing take on hardcore”.
Slayyyter will join Turnstile on another stage next month. She and Die Spitz are set to support the band at the University of Kansas in Lawrence on October 6 for the ‘Never Enough Tour Pt. 2’.
It has been a big year for Slayyyter. Her third album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’, came out in March, and NME’s review highlighted its mix of “brash, sleazy pop” and late 2000s indie sleaze sounds.
Last month, she performed Hole’s ‘Violet’ for triple J’s Like A Version. Courtney Love called the cover “a delight” and encouraged Slayyyter to “keep wiping the floors with us”.
A few weeks later, Slayyyter took ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ to Reading Festival. NME’s live review declared that there was “undoubtedly a star before us on stage” and praised her “rasped, rocked-up delivery” and growing confidence as a performer.
