Style: Progressive rock, krautrock, psych jazz (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Can, Squid, black midi, Neu!
Country: UK
Release date: 30 January 2026

---

The role of certain English cities in the history of music is well acknowledged. The Beatles and their birthing of modern pop music are indelibly tied to the culture of Liverpool, while Birmingham birthing both Black Sabbath and Judas Priest make it an important hub for the development of metal. Meanwhile, the entire trip-hop genre was cultivated and perfected in Bristol by early pioneers Smith & Mighty, followed by the legends Massive Attack, Portishead, and Tricky. If anywhere in England today is a crucible for new music, it’s Brighton: the vibrant coastal city your dad refuses to visit! Brighton (and Hove, actually) is home to a robust progressive post-hardcore scene, but it also houses a strong indie/prog crossover scene. 

Drawing on the influence of krautrock klassics (CAN, Neu!) and marrying it with some of the edgier modern indie out there (think black midi, Squid), Plantoid operate in a field that pulls from psychedelia, jazz fusion and even post-rock for a rather unique concoction. Flare is, by Plantoid’s admission, a more mood-focused album than its predecessors, dialing down the progressive changeability and instead taking the time to expand on song ideas to deliver a record that thrives on contrast. Dissonant, jazzy chords and chaotic lead guitar work will subside only for Chloe Spence’s ephemeral, dreampop vocals to bathe the listener in a soothing psychedelic mist. 

Across the album, Plantoid show a flair for quietly consummating myriad genre influences. In this way, the driving groove of the reverby, weed-fugged “Ultivatum Cultivation” can sit comfortably up against the post-rock style build of “Good For You” from timidity to defiance and the more overtly jazz-influenced vocal melodies of “The Weaver”. Opener “Parasite” is bookended by some raucous riffing and snare-smacking, but the bulk of the track is dedicated to quite listenable psychedelic indie. But Flare is most thoroughly defined by songs centred around a single idea which is then fully explored; that’s perhaps not the most quintessentially prog mentality, but it works. 

Nevertheless, the smoothing down of Plantoid’s more abrasive edges that were in greater abundance on debut Terrapath does come at a cost. While Flare is varied in its smoother sojourns, it does begin to lack bite. By the time the nominatively deterministic penultimate number “Slow Moving” comes along, the need for more sonic splatter like that demonstrated on “Splatter” is getting hard to go without. Fortunately, closer “Daisy Chains” has a bit more of that noise rock influence going for it, and it’s tracks like these and clear album highlight “Dozer”—with its QOTSA-esque syncopated groove, black midi style mid-song freak-out, and abrupt guitar runs and erratic drum fills—that demonstrate Plantoid’s flair best. 

Still, if we’re going to judge the aims of the album on its merits, Plantoid really do nail those moods and grooves, and the tracks feel fully inhabited. They’re aided by production that’s a vast improvement on that of Terrapath, and which really highlights the meticulousness of the band’s sound, somehow balancing the wall-of-sound of shoegaze with an assiduous attention to detail—slick and professional without sacrificing that dirty DIY ethos. Plantoid’s penchant for adding instrumental modulations and nuances to the rhythms in real time shows they’re having fun with shading and blending colour over the big structural stuff.

If you want a band that embody the weird, experimental cultural ethos of Brighton, you could do worse than Plantoid. Sure, some of the originality and coarseness of the band’s debut is removed, but that sanding process has yielded a maturity and self-confidence that, for the most part, works well on Flare. Don’t forget your roots, but always strive to improve—that’s what this solid sophomore says, and it’s advice many a band would do well to heed.

---

Recommended tracks: Dozer, Ultivatum Cultivation, Daisy Chains
You may also like: Bend the Future, Our Oceans, Sans Froid
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Bella Union

Plantoid is:
– Chloe Spence (vocals, guitar) 
– Tom Coyne (lead guitar)
– Louis Bradshaw (drums)