Porridge Radio release their latest EP, ‘Machine Starts To Sing’

Posted On February 21, 2025February 21, 2025

Machine Starts To Sing, the latest emotion-filled whirlwind from Porridge Radio, doesn’t give you a moment to settle in. It launches headfirst, pulling you into the coarse and captivating textures of Dana Margolin’s unmistakable voice. “If you lie very still, it won’t happen to you,” she claims, evoking the same embellishments of melancholy that categorised some of the most defining songs from Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me.

However, Machine Starts To Sing starts by immediately showing off Margolin’s unshakeable adeptness as a singer and songwriter, denoting the true heights of a musician who only seems to grow better, stronger, and more artistically accomplished. The immediacy of the opening track seems entirely evocative of Porridge Radio’s signature commanding sound, like delicately encroaching on something sinister, though endearing in its own starkness to embrace the darkness.

This is accentuated by Sam Yardley’s drums, which feel like an integral piece of the puzzle and a marker of the song’s growing intensity, almost as if each hit draws us closer to a deeper, more intense foray into the beauty of the unknown. Even more gripping is the way Margolin uses her own voice as a conduit for the inevitable crescendo, punctuated by the illusion of rushing out words through withheld breaths. Frustration and resignation meet in the middle like a glorious melding of worlds.

‘Ok’ provides a necessary moment of respite, with Margolin’s voice guiding the tonality of the piece, the additional croak bringing forth an unmistakable layer of exhausted disposition as she sings through woes of sluggish disillusionment (“Tell me if you hate yourself”). Although simple by nature, ‘Ok’ feels deceptively lighthearted, even as Margolin pushes out indicative pleas of “No, no, no”, proving the band’s prowess for blending different ambiguities in one grounding mesh of compositional beauty.

‘Don’t Want To Dance’ proves to be a necessary standout, with immediately captivating notes of yearning, longing, and reaching out for something you’re not yet ready to let go of. This is clear from the opening notes as Margolin says she’s “not done trying” and “not ready to stop loving you yet” before the accompanying arrangements slowly but surely expand the track into something far more all-consuming, grounding the entire EP with an overwhelming sense of here and now.

Considering the headiness of the opening track ‘Machine Starts To Sing’, closing the EP with ‘I’ve Got A Feeling (Stay Lucky)’ feels somewhat oddly contradictory. However, it clashes in the best and most artistically genius of ways, ending the EP on a note of upbeat charm, almost like facing all of your demons head-on and deciding not to care in spite of everything they’ve done to tear you down. Luck, in this context, doesn’t mean having everything figured out, nor does it mean cleaning all the messes that define the cluttered, modern mind.

In this context, it feels more like embracing the madness and appreciating everything good and beautiful about life’s complexities. Above all, it rounds off Machine Starts To Sing perfectly, marking the end of a long road filled with immense highs and lows. Porridge Radio has been a truly welcome presence in the indie and alternative music scene, and while their forthcoming disbandment is difficult and unfortunate to reckon with, everything that defines their artistry to date can be found right here.

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