Manchester-born indie-pop artist better joy has released her new EP ‘at dusk’ and announced her biggest UK headline tour to date, with shows scheduled for March 2026 at Gorilla in Manchester on Tuesday 18th March and Oslo in London on Friday 20th March, with tickets now on sale.
The six-track project was produced by Mike Hedges, known for his work with The Cure and Manic Street Preachers, and mixed by Caesar Edmunds of Wet Leg fame and Robbie Nelson who has worked with the Rolling Stones. Recorded at Chale Abbey Studios on the Isle of Wight, ‘at dusk’ serves as the sister EP to better joy’s acclaimed debut ‘heading into blue’ which was released in March 2025, showcasing a more contemplative and vulnerable side to the artist’s sound.
According to better joy, real name Bria Keely, the EP explores deeper emotional territory than her previous work. “at dusk is the sister EP to my debut EP heading into blue. Written and recorded at the same time, these collection of songs show a more vulnerable side to me and a little darker too. It’s about being vulnerable with love and opening up as a consequence, but also the repercussions of that when not doing so in the right hands,” she explained.
The EP features previously released singles ‘steamroller’, described as one of her most emotionally raw tracks about reclaiming yourself, alongside ‘this part of town’ which embraces the unknown, and ‘plugged in’ which leans into the first flush of love. The complete tracklist includes ‘this part of town’, ‘steamroller’, ‘plugged in’, ‘i’m there’, ‘big thief’, and ‘so long’. Across these tracks, better joy untangles the complexities of relationships with the world and with ourselves, with sparky melodies backed by bright guitars and pulsating bass lines coated in deeply vulnerable lyrics.
2025 has proven to be a breakthrough year for the artist, who burst onto the scene in 2024 with a string of singles and successful support tours including dates with Hard-Fi. This year has seen a sell-out vinyl run for her debut EP, a near sold-out 10-city UK and EU headline tour in March 2025, and festival appearances at The Great Escape, Truck Festival, Y Not, and Liverpool Sound City.
The momentum has continued with high-profile support slots, including a tour with Somebody’s Child that featured a sold-out night at Glasgow’s 13,000-capacity Hydro Arena. Better joy is also set to support Amy Macdonald across the UK and will perform a monumental hometown support slot for Bastille at the AO Arena in Manchester later this year, before embarking on her own headline run in November.
The artist has garnered significant support from tastemakers including BBC 6Music, Radio X’s John Kennedy, NME, The Line of Best Fit, DIY, and Dork. The Line of Best Fit praised her music as embodying “a roller coaster ride – one where you think you know what is going to happen from looking at the structures but remain tantalised and thrilled with each twist of the track,” adding that “all of this is what makes Better Joy so fresh.” NME has positioned her as “UK indie’s next breakthrough act” by radio tastemakers, while DIY noted that “the music more than backs up the hype” with its grit and lyrical depth.
The vivid indie-pop guitar project sees Bria on vocals backed by a full band, fusing her signature sound with themes that resonate on a universal scale. Where her debut ‘heading into blue’ showcased naivety and openness, ‘at dusk’ gives way to a darker, more mature reflection on growth, relationships, and self-belief, marking a natural evolution in her artistry as she establishes herself as one of the UK’s most exciting indie breakthrough acts.
Image credits:
Jessy Keely
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