Callum Thompson plays guitar in The Mysterines, and AKA is his own project on the side – the new single I'm Not The One You Need has been out since 14 October.
A voice shouts "Holy Smokes!" right at the top, over an aching psych-rock guitar, and that sets the tone for the whole thing – swaggering and more than a little cocky. "I'm Not The One You Need is about being the wrong person at the right time," says Callum. "The song lives somewhere between heartbreak, humour and complete irrationality."
Callum's been busy with his own band in Liverpool this month too – three nights, three different venues, with guests including Sophie from Luvcat. That kind of effort for a side project, on top of the day job in a touring band, is the sort of thing that gets a single a spot here. It's a decent hook for the song too, and the video backs it up – shot mostly through a fisheye lens, with wizards on motorcycles and an original newsreader, fast and DIY and a bit daft.
This isn't AKA's first outing. Debut single It Grows On Trees (Money) picked up "bleary, fuzzed-out (and) melodic" from NME and "a sardonic indie burner" from Clash, and got a lift from an unlikely source – its inclusion on EA Sports FC 27 has pushed it past 75,000 streams on Spotify in a bit over two weeks. Second single Control followed with the same energy.
This month's Liverpool shows come after a run of live dates that includes an in-store at Rough Trade East with Metropolis Studios, a set at The Great Escape, a sold out headline show at Liverpool's Quarry, and a slot at the Midi Festival in France alongside Little Grandad and Ulrika Spacek.
Watch this space, apparently – more new music and dates are promised soon.