Like all of the best pipedreams, STRABE first came about in the smoking area. Four years ago, Angelica Black was at Cork Jazz Festival and fancied popping out for a joint – Emmet Carey didn’t smoke, but kept Angelica company anyway. Sitting by the river and chatting about music, they quickly realised that not only were their tastes spookily similar. Emmet and Angelica eventually began writing together in various bedrooms around Dublin, and the first song they made together was the pulsing and woozy ‘Acid Love’. Written before heading out on a night out together, it revisits a shimmering afternoon spent out in nature. And later that year came ‘Best Worst Year’, a twanging slice of dance-pop unpicking the stagnation Emmet felt as he repeated a year of college, and the anxiety Angelica grappled with when they ultimately dropped out of their geography degree. Having relocated to London between lockdowns, signed a record deal, and played their first ever live shows in support of Foxes around the UK, ‘Life On Pause’ may be a fitting snapshot for a stop-start, tumultuous few years – but in STRABE, it also marks the arrival of a brilliant new band.