Maybeshewill

Maybeshewill are an instrumental group from Leicester, United Kingdom, formed in 2005. Their line-up consists of James Collins on drums, Matthew Daly on keyboards, John Helps and Robin Southby on guitars, and Jamie Ward on bass. The band works under DIY principles and records its material in-house.

Releases and labels

The band first releases a four-track EP, Japanese Spy Transcript, through its own Robot Needs Home Records in early 2006. That EP later appears in expanded form on Japan’s XTAL Recordings. Its debut album, Not For Want Of Trying, is self-recorded and issued by Field Records in 2008. A second album, Sing The Word Hope In Four-Part Harmony, follows in 2009, also on Field Records. The third studio album, I was here for a moment, then I was gone, appears in 2011 and is released in the UK, Europe and Japan through Function Records. The final album, Fair Youth, follows in 2014.

Activity and touring

Maybeshewill tour extensively throughout their career, building an international following through shows across the UK, Europe, Japan and Russia. They perform and tour with acts including A Silver Mt. Zion, And So I Watch You From Afar, Cats and Cats and Cats, Earthtone9, Envy, Foals, God Is An Astronaut, Humanfly, Johnny Truant, Lite, Long Distance Calling, Mojo Fury, The Ocean, This Will Destroy You, Worriedaboutsatan, You Slut! and &U&I. After announcing the end of the project and playing a final show in London in April 2016, the band announces a reformation in January 2020.

Style and reception

The group describes its sound as instrumental rock with electronics. Their music is also associated with post-rock, electronic, experimental and math rock. Not For Want Of Trying receives favourable reviews from outlets including Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1, Rock Sound, Kerrang! and Drowned in Sound. Sing The Word Hope In Four-Part Harmony is written after six months of heavy touring and is intended for live performance with a louder, rougher sound. I was here for a moment, then I was gone is recorded in studio spaces for the first time, while still being engineered by Jamie in-house, and receives wide critical acclaim from Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Big Cheese, NME and Artrocker.