Manchester Orchestra

Manchester Orchestra is an indie rock band with mid-tempo melodic tunes set against a sweeping, widescreen cinematic sound and lush arrangements that often lead to a full on emotional swell. The band is led by their primary songwriter, singer, and guitarist Andy Hull, whose voice has a distant Joe Newman (of Alt-J) ring to it. The band likes to pursue big ideas, whether thematically or sonically. That was not quite their jam before 2017's A Black Mile to the Surface, where they had a more aggressive sound that melded a post-hardcore riffing style, '90s alt-rock muscularity, emo mannerisms without actually being any of those things specifically. Their 2014 album Hope is actually a more acoustic rendition of Cope from the same year. In fact, this Cope/Hope transition may very well be the line that marks the transition between the old and the new incarnations of the band.