WITH NEW SINGLE – SLOW DOWN SALLY – OUT NOW

November UK Headline Tour
Includes London, Scala – Nov 24th


Album Artwork


2026 has seen Manchester five-piece The Guest List come into their own, and the release of their superb debut album Something Real – a record that captures the ambition behind their rapid rise, moving between huge guitar anthems and emotionally intimate songwriting.

New track ‘Slow Down Sally’ is an acoustic-led offering from the record that puts its lyrics and vocals front and centre. Telling the story of a young woman navigating the fear and anxiety left by controlling and stalkerish relationships, the song follows Sally as she walks home feeling watched and vulnerable. Against that intimate backdrop, the song delivers an anthemic chorus – a powerful reminder that Sally is not alone, she is loved, and that there is hope beyond the fear.

Decamping to Bergen, Norway, to record with collaborator Matias Tellez, Something Real builds on these foundations and expands them into an emotionally rich debut, tackling everything from mental health, anxiety and male suicide to domestic violence, climate collapse and society’s growing appetite for outrage. Yet it never loses sight of the personal – balancing weighty themes with sharp songwriting, melody, and moments of vulnerability.

The band’s wave of momentum has continued to build and build throughout 2026 and has seen sell-out live shows & international touring, including a huge weekend in Japan for Summer Sonic. They’ve also seen national radio support from BBC Radio 1 & 6 Music and have been described by Rolling Stone UK as “a thrillingly ambitious…reminiscent of Humbug-era Arctic Monkeys”, The Independent tipping the band for this year as “on course to become one of the UK’s next big guitar bands,” and Dork declaring that “2026 feels like the year that graft plus ambition turns into a breakthrough” – The Guest List are fast becoming a band to believe in.

The album’s title track takes aim at algorithm-driven division and the normalisation of outrage in a post-truth world, while ‘Weatherman’ captures a generation’s dread in the face of climate collapse. Elsewhere, ‘Mary’ delivers a devastating, intimate portrait of domestic abuse and its generational impact, as yet-to-be-released ‘Sick Animal’ imagines a near-future society forced to rebuild from the wreckage of its own making. ‘If Ever Your Devil Is Kind’ turns a lens on everyday rage and tribalism, inspired by the simmering aggression of a football crowd.

Formed in 2021 as school friends and music students, The Guest List first gained traction through a run of high-energy indie covers online, quickly amassing a dedicated following. But it’s their original material – socially-conscious, ambitious, and emotionally direct – that has set them apart. Having previously worked with The Coral’s James Skelly and more recently developed in Norway with Tellez, the band’s sound continues to evolve beyond their early influences, drawing comparisons to Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell and Sam Fender while carving out something distinctly their own.

This summer, they’ve packed in playing Neighbourhood, Latitude and Isle of Wight, as well as making their first ever trip to Japan for Summer Sonic, taking their music to a huge new audience on the other side of the world. With Reading & Leeds and Victorious to come, and their biggest headline tour to date in November, including a major show at London’s Scala, alongside further European shows, the band’s international ambitions are becoming increasingly clear.

As frontman Cai Alty explains: “The album is about people at their best and worst – those who shape our lives intimately and those who we never meet. It’s about squinting through the chaos around us and finding meaning where it is scarce.”

With Something Real out in the world, The Guest List are entering their biggest chapter yet.


IN-STORE DATES
October
17th NBHD FESTIVAL, Manchester

EU HEADLINE TOUR DATES
October
20th BRUSSELS, Botanique Witloof Bar
21st PARIS, Les Etoiles
23rd ROTTERDAM, Left of the Dial
24th ROTTERDAM, Left of the Dial
25th COLOGNE, Artheater
27th BERLIN, Badehaus
28th HAMBURG, Turmzimmer
29th UTRECHT, Ekko

SUPPORTING THE COURTENEERS
6th LEEDS, First Direct Arena
7th CARDIFF, Utilita Arena
13th LIVERPOOL, M&S Bank Arena
14th LONDON, Alexandra Palace
20th GLASGOW, OVO Hydro
21st BIRMINGHAM, Utilita Arena

UK HEADLINE TOUR DATES
November
17th NEWCASTLE, The Grove
19th GLASGOW, St Luke’s
20th BIRMINGHAM, O2 Institute 2
21st OXFORD, O2 Academy 2
22nd SOUTHAMPTON, Papillion
24th LONDON, Scala
25th LEEDS, Project House
26th BRISTOL, Fleece

Photo Credit: Vlad Woodham Smith @ Plastic Fruit Studios

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