SERIOUS BUSINESS: Sheffield’s I’m Being Serious craft a psych-folk trip on debut album The Note
I’m Being Serious promo shot (Image: Amber Easton @ace.ph0tos)
I’m Being Serious are a five-piece, Sheffield-based band formed a couple of years ago, and consisting of:
Finlay Sandham, lead vocals, synths, and B-flat clarinet
Ed Luddington, lead guitar, vocals, harmonica, and synths
Carys Williams, rhythm guitar and vocals
Kit Searle, drums
Henry McNamara, bass clarinet
The band play a delirious, psychedelic, wistful folk rock, which in their own words is “heavily influenced by the 21st century interpretation of wizards”.
The band play gigs around their Sheffield base, including performing for the 2025 and 2026 World Snooker Championships, and have garnered publicity on BBC Radio Sheffield following an interview with Xanthe Palmer.
Releases to date include four self-produced singles: “Land of Plenty”, “Everything Pizza”, “Paul Party Crashers”, and most recently “York”, which have already amassed strong Spotify streams since release.
They now have a brand new album The Note, which landed on the mat at North of Here Towers. In anticipation of a new tour, to be announced in tandem with the release of the album on 16th October 2026, I’ve cast an ear over their debut album.
The Note...by Note
The Note, the debut album from I’m Being Serious
Some time in the making, The Note, the debut album from I’m Being Serious, weighs in with eleven tracks that form a kaleidoscopic landscape made up of late-60s psychedelic rock textures funnelled through shoegaze, stoner rock and alternative-indie-folk prisms.
It’s a beguiling compendium of sounds. There’s a mystical depth to many of the tracks—opening instrumental track “Dung Beatle” wafts a Far Eastern, George Harrison scented joss-stick around as it sets the scene for what is to come.
“Alltud I Annwn” sees vocals from Finlay added to the mix, hypnotic “take my hand, come with me” chants pervade as Henry’s bass clarinet feels its way around an exile to the eternal youth, beauty, abundance, and magic in the mythical world of Annwn.
Moving into more upbeat territory “Gutshot” engages a 60s psychedelic-rock vibe—the opening oboe strains laced with a harmonica motif that drives the song along its garage-rock Nuggets-esque journey. It's a song that makes you sit up and take notice.
I’m Being Serious in live action (Image: Amber Easton @ace.ph0tos)
“York” sees a female vocal from Carys reminiscent of Camera Obscura, as the song builds up its presence over Henry’s clarinet—sparking into life as the full band kicks into gear. It’s a powerful concoction of introspection, depth and dreamy musical intensity.
As “Paul Party Crashers” moves more into alt-rock territory—its riveting bass line with Ed and Carys’ detailed guitar texturing and anthemic chorus, signposts the diversity of the band.
The fuzz guitar heavy “An Italian Flatbread With Tomato & Cheese” is baked with more psychedelic ingredients as it swirls around the turntable, its spaced out vocals anchoring the track.
“Skrunglebob By Billy & The Beans” is a short interlude of instrumental noodles and stream-of-consciousness vocalising, almost priming the listener for “Mind’s Eye”—its choppy, insistent start soon gives way to some trippy soundscapes as the rapid vocals drift in and out of the spaced-out vision the song paints. The exquisite production really hits home here—the smorgasbord of sounds are handled impeccably in the mix as they practically move around your head during the extended instrumental breaks.
With the band now in full flow, the epic “Time’s March”, with a running time of over 13 minutes, is unleashed. It’s a track that ebbs and flows in equal measure—lurching into an clarinet-fused waltz mid-way through, it eventually clambers back up with an awesome instrumental section before crashing into a meltdown of guitar and clarinet riffing as it heads into the stratosphere.
I’m Being Serious in live action (Image: Amber Easton @ace.ph0tos)
Bringing things back to earth, the gentler “Sygun” and an acoustic opening laced with running water, birdsong and other sound effects from the Snowdonian Copper Mine, its more laid-back groove channels a cinematic grandeur as its spoken vocals drift above the sonic textures. The song over its almost 8 minutes has much time to breathe before reaching its strained “You Don’t Know Who I Think I Am” zenith, eventually drifting back into the more restrained mood of its opening section.
Album closer “Socsan” with its dreamy vocal provides a fitting end—again the song gradually builds its presence, dipping its toe in the water, before ending in a cacophony of industrial white noise.
But Seriously…
I’m Being Serious at The Green Room, Sheffield (Image: Amber Easton @ace.ph0tos)
Over the course of its debut album The Note, I’m Being Serious charts out a complex and intricate world of sonic textures and landscapes. The virtuosity is married with a keen sense of melodic nous, which helps ensure the songs rise above simply being instrumental showboating.
In addition, whilst there is a strong influence from late 60s psychedelia, their work is by no means a pastiche, a diverse range of other genres help add much colour over the duration of the record.
The album is fabulously produced and recorded, full of well written and played songs, and is very worthy of checking out and getting to know the songs either on record or in a live setting.
The album is available on all the usual streaming platforms.
The band have also announced a new tour in tandem with the album release—check their Instagram page for more details (@im_being_serious_band).
I’m Being Serious publicity shot (Image: Amber Easton @ace.ph0tos)
Tracklisting:
Dung Beatle
Alltud I Annwn
Gutshot
York
Paul Party Crashers
An Italian Flatbread With Tomato & Cheese
Skrunglebob By Billy & The Beans
Mind’s Eye
Time’s March
Sygun
Socsan
The band recorded the album themselves at Stay Tuned Music Studios and Seriously Delirious Studios, Sheffield, and it was mixed by Dr. Pumps and mastered by Glynnis McNamara.
Like this? Check out my review of another Sheffield band, Take Four, on the following link.
