New Eye

New Eye and their County Durham roots

New Eye are an alternative-pop band from County Durham, formed in early 2025 after two musical projects came together and quickly found a shared direction. The five-piece features Rhys Lapsley, Rebecca Dakers, Marcia Hidson, Aaron Barrass and Leo Howard, with each member bringing different influences into a sound that sits somewhere between new wave, post-disco, art-pop and modern indie.

There is a strong sense of melody at the centre of the band. New Eye draw inspiration from artists including Prefab Sprout, Deacon Blue, Talking Heads and The 1975, but their strongest material is less about imitation and more about borrowing the colour and movement of those records. Bright guitars, rhythmic bass lines and atmospheric textures give the songs a polished feel, while the vocals keep enough personality to stop the arrangements becoming too neat.

A new band moving quickly

For a group formed only recently, New Eye have built up live experience at a good pace. Their debut show at The Bunker in Sunderland drew a strong response, giving the band an early indication that the material worked outside the rehearsal room. From there, they moved into further North East dates and began developing songs such as Thought of You, Orange Juice and All or Nothing in front of audiences.

That live development is important because New Eye’s music depends on the relationship between groove and melody. The post-disco influence gives the rhythm section plenty to do, while the new-wave and art-pop elements allow the arrangements to move beyond standard indie-rock structures. As the band continue writing, there is room for that balance to become even more distinctive.

New Eye on the North East live circuit

The band’s County Durham roots place them naturally within the wider Newcastle and Sunderland grassroots network. Their appearances have already included support slots at venues such as The Cluny, while SoundBite North East has featured New Eye through local listings and Sunderland’s One Big Summer programme.

What makes the band interesting at this stage is that they already have a clear set of influences without sounding locked into one decade. The songs carry enough nostalgic colour to appeal to listeners drawn to sophisticated guitar pop, but the production and live energy keep things current. With new material in development and more shows planned, New Eye are still early in their story, yet they have already created a recognisable sound and a strong regional base from which to build.