Biography

Delivering a swooning 21st century update of dream pop and post-punk that builds on the legacy of their Northern England roots, White Flowers is Joey Cobb and Katie Drew. On singles like 2020's "Night Drive" and the following year's full-length Day by Day, the duo's crystalline atmospheres and ethereal vocals exemplify what makes those styles so enduring. White Flowers began when Cobb and Drew left their hometown of Preston, a city in the northwest of England, to go to art school in London. They soon became immersed in the city's psych-rock scene and began working on their own music, drawing from the sounds around them as well as the '80s post-punk of Manchester, shoegaze, and the impressionistic electronics of Boards of Canada and Burial as they built songs from loops and drum machines. Finding more inspiration in where they came from, Drew and Cobb returned to Preston to focus on White Flowers. Working in an abandoned textile mill, they honed their sound with Doves guitarist Jez Williams, who co-produced their recording sessions. Their debut single, Night Drive/Portra, appeared on Tough Love Records in February 2020. White Flowers followed it with that May's "Day by Day," which also featured a cover of Red House Painters' "Katy Song." The duo worked with producer Ali Chant on January 2021's Within a Dream EP, a mix of home and studio recordings that included a version of Cass Elliot's "Didn't Want to Have to Do It." Cobb and Drew reunited with Williams for June 2021's full-length Day by Day, which blended the rawness of their earliest recordings with intricate sonic layers. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi