NEWS
Leeds venue Boom has launched a crowdfunder after finding new premises. This follows their announcement last November that they are “being forced” to shut down in March this year.
The venue previously said that its landlord decided to terminate its lease to start work developing the building into flats and shops.
However, in an update shared yesterday (January 29), the venue looks set instead to relocate – and they’ll need some help.
“Before Christmas we made a formal offer to take on a building on the fringe of Leeds City centre,” they revealed. This new venue – which they note is larger than their current Millwright Street location – will be set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC) music venue to offer various community facilities and initiatives, such as rehearsal spaces, a recording studio, education programmes, and F&B offerings.
“We will protect everything we have built over the last decade including the scenes and communities that use our spaces, the bands and gigs we work with and all the connected businesses involved,” they continued.
“Boom has [been] through a pandemic and a cost of living crisis and many challenges in recent years – we’ve learnt a lot especially around how our organisation needs to be more resilient and how that looks and works with a fresh start.”
The venue has raised £30,000 for the new location so far, but they require another £52,000 to secure the deal.
Boom has since launched an official crowdfunding campaign with a target goal of £15,000, with the venue aiming to raise remaining funds through exclusive merchandise and physical media releases on vinyl and cassette tape. Find the campaign here.
Boom has been a vital part of Leeds’ alternative music scene, having helped foster a generation of hardcore bands in the city. “If people didn’t get to experience Boom,” Higher Power guitarist Max Harper told NME, “it would be very, very sad.”
“Leeds would definitely not have the scene that it has without Boom – maybe the desire for other people to travel to Leeds for shows wouldn’t be there as much. There are other small venues too, but Boom has been the constant and the foundation, and probably the inspiration for people because it’s a very encouraging space.”
Earlier this week, it was reported that 2024 saw the UK lose one grassroots music venue every two weeks – with nearly half making a loss and 200 remaining in a state of emergency as the country faces a “collapse in touring”.
Kate Nash, a Music Venue Trust patron, told the Houses of Parliament in an effort to highlight the growing issues that touring musicians and venues face.
She said, despite being “pretty successful” with “thousands and thousands of fans” and being able to “sell out a venue or two”, the practice of planning a tour was now “never exactly what you think and you’re always going to go over budget.
“The way touring works right now is that you’re always over-budget, you go into the red, and fingers crossed you make nothing,” she continued. “You’re hoping you can make it zero and make absolutely fuck-all. It’s a bit of a weird job, really.
NEWS
Fontaines D.C. members Carlos O’Connell and Tom Coll have been behind the production of the forthcoming second album from French indie outfit Film Noir. To introduce the project, the band has unveiled the paired singles ‘VIENS TIENS TOI’ and ‘VEGITA’, which you can listen to below.
The Fontaines D.C. guitarist and drummer worked alongside Film Noir at La Frette Studios just outside Paris. The renowned recording space is also where Arctic Monkeys created their two most recent albums, ‘Tranquillity Base…’ and ‘The Car’.
O’Connell is partnered with Film Noir vocalist Joséphine de La Baume, who is also known for her work as an actor, filmmaker and model. Together, they share two children, with their first child serving as the inspiration for Fontaines’ 2025 track ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’.
Reflecting on the project while announcing his role in the album, O’Connell shared on social media: “In early 2020 I walked into a gig in a club in Paris and was introduced to a band called Film Noir. I fell in love with the singer, I went on to make babies with her to to fall in love twice again with them.
“A little while back myself, [Coll] and @filmnoirmusic went to La Frette and recorded their upcoming record.”
The guitarist continued: “Producing this record was one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had. Blessed to have so many. This album means the world to me & I hope it’ll mean something to many more.”
Film Noir have offered an early look at the still untitled album through the release of ‘VIENS TIENS TOI’ and ‘VEGITA’. O’Connell handled production duties on both tracks, while Coll contributed drums. O’Connell also took care of mixing on ‘VEGITA’.
Opening with a light acoustic arrangement, ‘VIENS TIENS TOI’ gradually unfolds into a dreamy sound shaped by shoegaze influences. In contrast, ‘VEGITA’ leans into a brighter, surf inspired feel that complements de La Baume’s floating vocal performance.
The group has also released a behind the scenes video capturing moments from the recording sessions for their sophomore album, which can be viewed below. At this stage, no official release date has been announced.
Back in spring 2020, O’Connell collaborated with Film Noir on a rendition of Lee Hazlewood’s ‘For A Day Like Today’ (via LiveForever). When the track arrived, the band described the guitarist as “a great supporter of the European rock scene and a common friend”.
Film Noir first emerged with their debut EP, ‘Vertiges (Men Of Glory)’, in 2019, followed by ‘Tendrement’ a year later. Their first full length album, ‘Palpitant’, arrived in 2022.
Outside of music, Joséphine de La Baume portrayed Marie in the 2011 film adaptation of One Day alongside Anne Hathaway. She has also appeared in Apple TV’s The New Look and the Polish period feature Chopin, a Sonata in Paris.
O’Connell also produced the self titled debut album from Dead Dads Club, the new project led by former Palma Violets singer Chilli Jesson. Released in 2026, that record was also created at La Frette Studios.
Speaking with NME earlier this year, O’Connell explained that the French studio “feels like a home”. He continued: “There’s nothing about it that feels corporate or constrained by time. My mind goes into this creative mode in which I can hear things in a certain way, and it doesn’t stop until I leave the building.”
Jesson also spoke about the experience, saying: “It was really organic. Carlos, on one of the tours we were on together, was working on a Film Noir album, and he was always mixing it and playing around with sounds. He’d just come out of the studio at La Frette and to see that process, with the production, I was like, ‘Holy shit.’ I’d been in a world where it was all on the computer, and then suddenly he’s talking about a fucking bass drum that’s two metres long.’”
More recently, Fontaines D.C. contributed music to the soundtrack for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The band also appeared on the collaborative charity release ‘Help(2)’, which supports War Child.
The group are preparing to return to the stage this summer for their first performances in nearly a year, beginning with three headline concerts in Spain before taking on their first ever top billing appearances at Reading & Leeds 2026.
Their schedule also includes a headline performance at Electric Picnic in Ireland, alongside appearances at European and American festivals including Frequency, La Route du Rock and Shaky Knees.
Discussing new material with NME at the beginning of the year, O’Connell revealed: “We’ve been writing, it’s been fun. We’re at [Reading & Leeds] and there are a couple of shows before that. I think if the music is there, it could get busy.”
Asked whether any fresh songs could appear during the Reading & Leeds performances, he responded: “I’d say so. If there is stuff written, then I would say so, yeah. That’s what we used to do all the time, play the new stuff live, songs that weren’t even finished. It’s a good way to test the songs.”
O’Connell was also asked whether elements of the visual production from the ‘Romance’ era might carry over into the band’s 2026 shows. “I think ‘Romance’ was so intense in every [way]… the visual, the production, the setlist… It wasn’t just about the music,” he explained.
“It’s almost a bit of the identity of the band now, but I guess that’s the decision to make. Does that become the identity of the band, or actually, it’s just a phase and you reinvent it? I don’t know.”
He went on to add: “I personally like the idea of revisiting some old stuff at Reading & Leeds, making the setlist maybe a bit more ‘Dogrel’ heavy. I’m excited about that. I’ve been listening to music like that much more. This morning I was listening to Sonic Youth. I want to go [in] that direction, but we’ll see, because anything could happen now, literally anything.”
‘Romance’ ultimately secured the Number Two spot on NME‘s list of the 50 best albums of 2024, finishing just behind Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’.
