Andy Smythe – Emergency (2025)
A storyteller at heart with a penchant for sharing his tales through powerful melodies, Andy Smythe takes classic songwriting and adds a modern twist, creating music that transcends time and generations. Wrapping his music with ribbons of folk, rock, pop, and indie, Smythe’s offerings are charmingly bright and impossible to ignore. In 2024, we followed his releases, sauntering across realms of indie and Britpop sounds from ‘Leaves to Burn’ to ‘Tears Can Heal’. The latest addition to his discography is the single, ‘Emergency’.
When I hear the word “emergency”, my mind immediately jumps to two things: the 1970s medical series (featuring the fantastic Robert Fuller), and the 1984 Miami Sound Machine’s single ‘Dr Beat’. Andy Smythe brings another association to the word in his single, ‘Emergency’.
Following his song, ‘The Drought Is Coming’, ‘Emergency’ is the first single from Smythe’s upcoming album, Quiet Revolution, set to drop in March 2026. Unlike the track, ‘The Drought Is Coming’, ‘Emergency’ steps from a tender ballad entwining haunting violins and a piano to an old-school flash of Britpop. With a nostalgic rush of The Beatles, the track bounces along in a pop-inspired gait; however, an injection of indie-rock slices through with flair in Paul Challenger’s lead guitar.
Self-recorded and produced, multi-instrumentalist Smythe layers his drums, bass and a twinkling of keys in ‘Emergency’. Along with his rich, jovial vocals, ‘Emergency’ is the song you dance along to while singing the chorus, “Emergency, call 999”. You might not know the lyrics, but those three words will stick in your brain like Sellotape to a piece of paper.
The UK musician began 2025 with a heart-rendering, skin-chilling tune, and he continues to do so with ‘Emergency’. Only this time, it’s a heart-warming and skin-tingling hop bop of Britpop. I’m already a fan of Andy Smythe, and he ups the ante with his new single. If this is your introduction to the Smythe fandom, welcome! If it isn’t, ‘Emergency’ is another notch of artistic splendour to keep you coming back for more.
Find out more about Andy Smythe on his official website, Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, Bandcamp, SoundCloud and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more Britpop music on The Other Side Reviews Britpop playlist:
