CASSIA AT THE 1865

Somewhere in the hazy desert sands and balmy summer nights you’ll find Cassia, breathing life into their ever-evolving sonic world. Poised to release an album that rewrites their own rulebook, and riding a wave that has seen them boom as producers, Cassia have meticulously crafted their world from their sleepy market hometown in the North of England to an unprecedented global scale: scaling the continents, receiving consistent critical acclaim, and embedding themselves in the credits of major names.

Emerging from the buzzing music scene of Macclesfield, Cassia are a far cry from your typical indie band. Fiercely passionate and forever thinking outside the genre box, Cassia’s unorthodox songwriting process rapidly transcended the limits of the music community where they cut their teeth on the live scene. You’d be fooled into thinking that Cassia had a more exotic origin story, yet it was from their unassuming childhood homes on the edge of the Peak District that they found themselves dreaming up a nostalgic, warm-tinted and hazy realm and the characters to live within it. It was using this new-found vision that Cassia’s signature, euphoric soundtrack was created, as well as taking inspiration from the Zambian music that frontman Rob’s dad grew up with and the roaring indie culture of nearby Manchester.

Through each song, Cassia capture individual moments and stories within their sweltering envisaged realm; the precise feelings of intense, tropical-hued euphoria, blurry days of hedonism and youth, and the contrasting introspections of the sun setting while the mellow evening tide washing over sandy feet. Jacob explains: “Right as a song is being first written we get really strong visual scenes of where it’s taking place, it’s always been a huge part of how we make music: it could be an LA suburb (or what we imagine it looks like), friends in the park at night during the summer having a barbecue, or a desert at peak heat in the summer. We try to build a world around those scenes in the production and feeling of each song. For that period of time whilst we’re working on the song, I think we kind of feel transported; it's the ultimate escape for us.”

It’s a common misconception that Cassia originate from somewhere on the coast, perhaps because of the early summers spent on pilgrimages down to Cornwall as a fresh-faced young band, busking during the hot days and sleeping in makeshift tents by night. A formative experience, Cassia were seeing their perfectly-formed, sun-soaked sonic vision come to life for the very first time, and the townsfolk were catching on.

Before they had even released their first single, the trio had created widespread word-of-mouth buzz that would uproot them from the comfort of the Northern music scene and propel them into the studios of Berlin, where they’d end up living together and earning their stripes as producers within the thriving underground scene. As their production skills became unignorable in the studios they were working in, Cassia found themselves ushered further afield into the alt-pop world, and the studios of London, South Africa and LA, lending their skill to the projects of other artists, from the rising and hotly-tipped to internationally touring acts.

Described by Wonderland Magazine as ‘sublime’, by Notion as an ‘ever-evolving auditory experience’ and an ‘indie dream’ by Clara Amfo, Cassia’s presence within the media is ever-growing. In the past year alone, Cassia have had constant BBC Radio 1 airplay (alongside a ‘Hottest Record’ for their single Circular Motion), recorded their second session at the iconic Maida Vale studio in London, and taken their sound to Mexico for the first time to play Corona Capital Festival, where the likes of Buzzfeed and Disney were queuing to have their moment with the band. Amid the whirlwind of the past year, Cassia’s rise as producers has also skyrocketed, and their freshly-christened new studio has been a further game-changer, solidifying their reputation with bookings filled up months in advance to get in a room with the boys. With a stellar portfolio and their own creative space, the trio are diving into the minds of other artists whenever they can, as well as honing their own, deeply-personal project.

The fresh collaborations and projects that Cassia have shaped this past year have moulded new limbs onto their framework, and the boys have made their home across continents and expanded their initial world beyond all recognition. Cassia’s once pure and worldly sound is now infused with the glow and groove of funk and soul, the ruggedness and boyish charm of indie pop, and polished self-production: more addictive and refined than ever before.

Cassia fans have been eagerly speculating about a new album ever since the release of the band’s vibrantly-tinted and reflective Home Soon... EP in February 2024. This project marked a turning point for the band, having since taken a step away from the cycle of albums and touring and breathe fresh life into their creative process. For the first time, the band have deliberately tuned out the chaos of digital noise, using the space to rebuild their sound from the ground up. This period of introspection has seen Cassia get the chance to redefine their identity and reimagine their music and the experience that it creates for their listeners- and bringing the euphoric atmosphere and communal celebration from their live shows to their new recordings is a top priority.

With their latest singles, Heat and Antidote, Cassia have returned with their hallmark indie-pop energy and optimism, but now with a reformed ethos that reflects their time spent renewing their craft. The new tracks, and their upcoming successors, exhibit maturity and self-awareness, with their weightier moments seamlessly woven into their shimmering, uplifting sound more naturally than ever before, ensuring that the signature Cassia energy is at the forefront of their music.

The announcement of their biggest tour to date, which includes their first-ever shows in the USA and a much-anticipated return to Mexico after their 2023 Corona Capital debut, further signals the band’s evolution beyond their roots. Yet, even as their horizons expand, there’s an undeniable thread that keeps pulling Cassia back to their roots, grounding their globally inspired sound in something unmistakably their own.