Umarells Interview: Manchester Misfits Find the Fog in ‘Moment Before We Met’

With a name borrowed from Italian busybodies and a sound that keeps shapeshifting, Manchester five-piece Umarells have made a jagged return with ‘Moment Before We Met’ — a gritty, emotionally scorched track that trades their dreamy neo-psych leanings for something sharper, darker, and just a bit witchier.

Fresh off tastemaker praise from NME, DIY, BBC 6Music and more, the band are levelling up — with headline shows in Manchester and Sheffield and their first EU dates on the horizon. But it all started, as bassist Josh Yeung admits, with “a dumb song about lemonade after a restaurant shift.” We caught up with the band to talk foggy feelings, Mitski influences, pedal obsessions, and what sets them apart in the UK’s ever-crowded post-indie underground.

‘Moment Before We Met’ feels like a shadowy pivot from your earlier neo-psych leanings — what drew you toward this darker, more jagged soundscape? Was there a moment that triggered the shift?

Ryan: I’d say it’s been a natural progression. You can kind of hear it creeping in on earlier tracks like ‘Closer’ and ‘One More Day’. This time we just leaned into it more. ‘Your Best American Girl’ by Mitski was a huge influence — the way those soft verses explode into abrasive choruses really stuck with us. We wanted to channel that contrast in our own way.

Ryan describes the track as being about “the gap between everything” — how much of that foggy uncertainty and misunderstood feeling is a shared band experience vs. a personal confession?

Imogen: I think we all feel it, even if we express it differently. I don’t share my lyrics with the band until the very last minute — most of our songs are called ‘new new new one’ until I’m forced to rename them — so the others kind of make their own assumptions about what it’s about. But when we’re writing, it’s like we’re all pulling in the same emotional direction without having to say it aloud. Fuchsia’s guitar parts especially tend to mirror the lyrics really naturally.

You’ve come a long way from late-night demos after restaurant shifts — does that DIY spontaneity still creep into your songwriting, or has your process changed now you’re a full-fledged band?

Josh: It’s definitely evolved. At the start, it was just me and Imogen bashing out ideas after work, then bringing half-formed stuff to the others. Now it’s more collaborative — we usually write all together in the room. ‘Moment Before We Met’ started with Imogen noodling on an acoustic, and we built it out from there as a full band.

Manchester’s music scene is famously crowded — what do you think sets Umarells apart in the current wave of post-indie acts bubbling up across the UK?

Sarah: It’s such a vibrant scene right now, which is exciting — but I think what sets us apart is that we don’t really stick to one sound. One song might be dreamy and synthy, the next might be all-out noise. We’re not trying to fit a template — we just follow the song wherever it wants to go. Hopefully that unpredictability keeps it interesting for people.

With headline shows and EU dates on the horizon, what are you most excited (or nervous) about bringing this grisly new sound to live audiences? Is anything changing in the live setup to match the mood?

Fuchsia: It’s definitely a mix of nerves and excitement. The shift to a slightly heavier sound felt natural because of all our different influences, and now we’re just keen to get out and play it live. Some of us still get a bit of stage fright, but we’re super proud of what we’ve made — and I think that helps. We’re constantly swapping out pedals and synths, experimenting with textures to keep things fresh and weird. Live, it’ll sound a bit different every time — and that’s kind of the fun of it.

Umarells’ new single ‘Moment Before We Met’ is out now via fear of missing out records. Catch them live in Manchester (YES Basement – July 19) and Sheffield (Sydney & Matilda – July 23) before they head off for their first EU shows this October.