Freak Slug announces I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top) via Future Classic. The expanded release will see the debut album available on LP for the first time, along with two new bonus tracks, “Liquorice” and “Killer”
Freak Slug, the project of the Manchester multi-disciplinary artist Xenya Genovese, announces the release of I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top), on 7 March 2025 via Future Classic. The expanded release will see the debut album available on LP for the first time, along with two new bonus tracks, “Liquorice” and “Killer”
Following a BBC Radio 6 Music premiere by Nemone (in for Nick Grimshaw), the new single “Liquorice” is produced by Josh Scarbrow (Rachel Chinoriri, Alessi Rose and Arlo Parks) along with a video directed by Kevin Hensler.
Recorded in Manchester and London with Alex Headford (Jadu Heart / Gretel), I Blow Out Big Candles was released digitally in November 2024 via Future Classic. A debut that builds a whole world for it to live in, I Blow Out Big Candles is playful, fun, but not shying away from the darker sides of both sound and psyche, and dreams as big and unshackled as Freak Slug herself.
I Blow Out Big Candles was described by international media outlets as “a bold and assured statement” and “joyously lo-fi punk and synthpop”, and named Freak Slug "a compelling artistic force".
Hugely influenced by ‘90s cult heroes including Ride, Mazzy Star and Stephen Malkmus, Freak Slug is all about hitting a mood. Everything that fuels her creative output is raw, authentic, sometimes weird, but always totally true self-expression. She wants to make music that “has bite”, that “doesn’t fuck about”, that “cuts the shit”. I Blow Out Big Candles is a strong statement of all of this and more.
The name Freak Slug encapsulates Genovese’s artistic world perversely and perfectly. Her previous releases, debut 2020 EP Videos and its viral hit “Radio” (13.5 million Spotify streams and counting), and follow-up EPs I’m In Love (2022) and Viva La Vulva (2023), might have introduced listeners to a “more summery, happy, LA sound”, but with her debut album, I Blow Out Big Candles, this Slug is burrowing down into evermore unlikely places.
As she accurately points out: “The name is giving more grunge than joy”. Down there, picking through the curious mix of sounds and feelings, from nostalgic, ‘90s-influenced and dreamy as well as eccentric and experimental, lives Freak Slug.
After embarking on her first US tour last December with two live shows in New York, two in Los Angeles and one in Chicago, which all sold out, Freak Slug is now gearing up for an extensive North American tour this March / April which includes shows at SXSW in March, before returning to the UK and Europe for live dates in May.
Her UK tour will call at London’s Moth Club on 22 May and at Deaf Institute in her hometown of Manchester on 23 May.
Tour Dates
02 MAR - Baba Yaga | Seattle, WA, USA
03 MAR - Polaris Hall | Portland, OR, USA
05 MAR - Cafe Colonial | Sacramento, CA, USA
06 MAR - Rickshaw Stop | San Francisco, CA, USA
07 MAR - The Libertine | San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
08 MAR - Lodge Room | Los Angeles, CA, USA
11 MAR - KCRW SXSW Showcase @ 3.20pm | TX, USA
12 MAR - BBC Introducing SXSW Showcase @ time TBC | TX, USA
13 MAR - KUTX SXSW Showcase @ 10am | TX, USA
13 MAR - Future Classic SXSW Showcase @ 11pm | TX, USA
14 MAR - Public Radio Daystage SXSW Showcase @ 12pm | TX, USA
14 MAR - The Secret Group | Houston, TX, USA
15 MAR - Siberia | New Orleans, LA, USA
17 MAR - The Earl | East Atlanta, GA, USA
18 MAR - Blue Room, Third Man Records | Nashville, TN, USA
20 MAR - The Empty Bottle | Chicago, IL, USA
21 MAR - Cactus Club | Milwaukee, WI, USA
22 MAR - University of Minnesota: Whole Music Club | Minneapolis, MN, USA
24 MAR - Turntable | Indianapolis, IN, USA
25 MAR - Mahall’s | Lakewood, OH, USA
26 MAR - Longboat Hall | Toronto, ON, CA
28 MAR - Bar Le Ritz | Montreal, QC, CA
29 MAR - Cafe 939 | Boston, MA, USA
30 MAR - Johnny Brendas | Philadelphia, PA, USA
31 MAR - Songbyrd | Washington, DC, USA
02 APR - Bowery Ballroom | New York City, NY, USA
14 MAY - Brudenell Social Club | Leeds, UK
15 MAY - King Tut's | Glasgow, UK
16 MAY - Bodega | Nottingham, UK
17 MAY - Get Together Festival | Sheffield, UK
18 MAY - Exchange | Bristol, UK
20 MAY - Joiners | Southampton, UK
21 MAY - Patterns | Brighton, UK
22 MAY - Moth Club | London, UK
23 MAY - Deaf Institute | Manchester, UK
25 MAY - Point Éphémère | Paris, FR
26 MAY - Cinetol | Amsterdam, NL
28 MAY - Badehaus | Berlin, Germany
30 MAY - Trepfunt | Ghent, Belgium