After teasing her debut body of work with a series of singles, Manchester-based Bria Keely, better known as better joy, has recently shared her first EP heading into blue, produced by Mike Hedges (The Cure, U2, Manic Street Preachers).
When better joy launched late last year, her vivid indie-pop songs brought comparisons to The Cure, The Smiths and Mazzy Star. A solo project led by Bria Keely and backed up by her band, better joy has been described by tastemakers as ones to watch in 2025 – including BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins who describes better joy as “one of my favourite bands”. Bria has a voice as colorful as Debbie Harry – a voice that needs to be up front and centre – and a knack for effortless storytelling that owes as much to Phoebe Bridgers or Olivia Dean as to any of her beloved guitar bands. Ringing, complex riff s winding around Bria’s vocals, dancing bass lines, characterful drumming and vulnerable lyrics: this is the sound of better joy.
Fresh off the back of a support tour with Hard-Fi in 2024, 5 sellout shows on her debut headline tour in March/April 2025 and a sold out 12” special edition vinyl EP, better joy has been described by NME as “UK indie’s next breakthrough act”. With more music set to be released this year and many festivals in the pipeline, 2025 looks set to be an exciting year for better joy.
Debut EP heading into blue was produced by Mike Hedges (The Cure, U2, Manic Street Preachers) and also features Travis guitarist Andy Dunlop throughout. The 6-track collection features previous singles ‘waiting on time’, ‘carnival’, ‘what a day’ and ‘quiet thing’, as well as two brand-new tracks, the brooding ‘couldn’t run forever’ and the stripped-back ‘can I land the plane?’. A frank and deeply personal set of songs that focus on themes of self-love and self-belief, the EP is Bria’s true self-expression of herself, with the title ‘heading into blue’ referencing the colour blue being the exact shade of self-expression. As the first full-length project, it is both a perfect introduction to better joy’s alt-pop sound and an exciting taster of more to come this year. Thoughtful lead track ‘couldn’t run forever’ balances both lightness and darkness in true better joy style, as a melodic and upbeat pop song, backed by a gritty edge with fuzzy guitars and reflective, wide-open lyrics.