Defences

Formed in Hertfordshire, U.K., Defences are an Alternative Metal band featuring Cherry Duesbury (Vocals), William Alex Young (Keys, Vocals), Calum Wilmot (Guitar), Owen Hughes-Holland (Bass), and Kyle Parke (Drums). Amidst the news of their signing with Long Branch Records and their sparkling new album ‘Shadowlight’, Defences have unveiled a horror-centric new image to encapsulate the new direction of the band. The singles supporting the album have garnered extensive radio playlisting across the UK, Europe and US, with lots of love from BBC Radio 1. “Shadowlight” was born from a period of solitude and deep reflection, exploring what it means to accept your inner darkness—acknowledging, understanding, and ultimately accepting it for what it is, and learning to sit with it or use it to change your outlook. The album delves into these themes, paralleling the artistic process itself and the nature of creation. It touches on the fear that you may not achieve what you belieåve you deserve or reach your full potential, a cycle of disappointment and self-sabotage that many face, with the pursuit of absolution and validation often feeling forever out of reach. To live in The Almost. “Shadowlight” addresses this sense of yearning for ever-elusive fulfilment, using the concept of self-reflective Shadow Work to give form to the hidden aspects of ourselves and the parts we wish we could change. By confronting these fears and internalising them as part of ourselves, we become whole.