Man/Woman/Chainsaw – ‘Cannonball’ review: a galley-smashing direct hit of a debut

Arty South London upstarts evolve into an inescapable 12-legged beast on expansive album to make you dance, smile tremble and weep

BANG ! It’s the crack of a snare that opens Man/Woman/Chainsaw ’s aptly titled debut ‘Cannonball’ on ‘Only Girl’: an explosion in the side of the galley before an ocean of sound floods in. It’s a sea of shoegazey guitars and ascending violins, but buoyed by a dizzying dedication to pure pop melody. As guitarist Billy Ward told us in their recent NME cover story , this ain’t “weird for weird’s sake”. This South London six-piece aren’t the abrasively wanky art-rock Brixton Windmill kids they may seem on paper. The song always comes first, and it comes with a vibe and joy.

What’s that on ‘Canyons’? A honey-drenched earworm vocal ballad intro worthy of Adele or Alicia Keys ? Yup, but of course nothing is as it seems. It’s pop but not as we know it, soon descending into jarring strings-assisted grunge assault akin to old-school dEUS , loaded with the grit and intensity of “ the real thing ” they’re pining for. Hell, ‘Still Angry’ would be a Radio 1-friendly chart-topper for most pop girls had it not gone through M/C/W’s delightfully demented rock mangle. You feel that balance too on the soulful and loungey ‘Lighter’, a jazz club lighters-up moment made more widescreen by a spectral post-rock bed, feeling the bliss of that sentiment of “ the time that you gift to me is my favourite dream.”

Formed when they were just 16 before spending the coming years loudly tussling for their sound in a converted vicarage and sweaty pub backrooms, the NME 100 alumni played over 100 gigs by the time they were only 19. Having seen them smash various spots on the showcase circuit, we can tell you Man/Woman/Chainsaw really bloom into what they’re meant to be on the stage and on this record. With lead vocals shared by Ward, keys player Emmie-Mae Avery and bassist Vera Leppänen – plus thrilling left turns provided by violinist Clio Starwood, the earth-scorching guitar of Billy Doyle and Lola Cherry’s purposeful rhythms – Man/Woman/Chainsaw are one 12-legged beast on the attack.

For what they’re truly capable of, look no further than the 6 Music-dominating bonafide banger ‘Nosedive’; a strutting mash-up of the cinematic tension of early Arcade Fire , bolstered by that pre-coming-up magic of LCD Soundsystem and the nerdy dancefloor clarion call of Los Campesinos . “ Baby get me back over you” is going to make for a pretty blissed-out festival sing-along for what’s left of the summer. Then there’s ‘Godddamn, Lizard Man!’, an assured modern update of Nick Cave ’s vampyric gothic menace from ‘Red Right Hand’ for the modern age of super-creeps that warns of “ a funny guy who’ll greet you with a kiss ” but who’ll “ suck your blood and hang you up to dry ”.

From the hell-bound tango of ‘Flick Of The Wrist’ to the slow-burning nightmare folk of ‘Get Up And Dance’ and the runaway desert rock of ‘The Thing’ to the trip-hop exorcism of closer ‘Something Else To Give’, ‘Cannonball’ comes on leaps and bounds from the raw ambition of debut EP ‘ Eazy Peasy ’ to create an album that leans into the experimental but never falls over into over-indulgence – just giddily playful while emotionally direct to make you to make you dance, smile tremble and weep. Here’s a band for whom perfection is just around the corner as they fine-tune the engine to reach a cleaner and more regular lift-off, but for now enjoy one of the most accomplished debuts of the year and a surefire Mercury Prize 2027 nominee. This cannonball makes one hell of a splash.