Divorce Open Up About Moving Forward As A Duo

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Divorce have spoken to NME about “evolving” and moving forward as a two-piece – revealing that they have been writing new music with plans to release it soon.

The Nottingham alt-country band dropped their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Drive To Goldenhammer’ in March last year, and it went on to be named as one of NME’s favourite debut records of 2025.

After playing live across the globe throughout the year, the band confirmed earlier this month that drummer Kasper Sandstrom and lead guitarist Adam Peter Smith had made the decision to leave the line-up.

In their statement, they confirmed that the decision came as they “need to prioritise our personal lives more”, and also added that bandmates Felix Mackenzie-Barrow (singer/guitarist) and Tiger Cohen-Towell (singer/bassist) will continue as a two-piece and launch “a new era for the band”.

At the Ivor Novellos last week (Thursday May 21), both Mackenzie-Barrow and Cohen-Towell spoke to NME about their new chapter and said that while they are still adjusting to the change, the songwriting has always been done by the two of them, so it hasn’t affected their dynamic too much.

“It’s always been like that songwriting-wise, but it’s a change, for sure,” said Mackenzie-Barrow. Cohen-Towell added: “We’re just really excited for the future though, and we’re excited for people to hear everything we’ve been up to."

After teasing that there is “plenty of” new music “not too far away” from being released, the duo touched upon the sound of the upcoming material, and said that although the dynamic has changed, they will not be deviating too far from the sound that fans have come to expect.

“I think we are always evolving… and it’s natural for artists to just develop through their trajectory,” Cohen-Towell told NME. “We’re just going to do what’s right for this era, and we’re not specifically planning on a big relaunch or anything… it is just going to be what we want to do in this current climate.”

Tiger Cohen-Towell of Divorce (2025), photo by Ed Miles
Tiger Cohen-Towell of Divorce. Credit: Ed Miles for NME
 
Felix Mackenzie-Barrow of Divorce (2025), photo by Ed Miles
Felix Mackenzie-Barrow of Divorce. Credit: Ed Miles for NME
As for when we can expect to hear new music, the former NME Cover stars said that it has always been in their nature “to try things out live” and integrate things into their gigs to see the audience’s response.

“We start live shows again this summer, and we’re really looking forward to that,” Mackenzie-Barrow said. “We’re playing some really intimate shows along with festivals, and it’s always fun to try new stuff out in those environments. It’s a good way of road-testing the songs.”

At the start of last year Divorce appeared on 2025’s NME 100, and went on to spend last summer smashing the festival circuit following the release of ‘Drive To Goldenhammer’.

Speaking to NME for The Cover last year, the band opened up about their time starting out in Nottingham’s grassroots music scene with a “self-sustaining” community of artists.

“When you don’t get a lot of outside interest, you don’t have much choice but to make it yourself,” Mackenzie-Barrow said. “Sitting in the van on your way to a show and looking around at these friends that you have, sitting in the garden in the house where we wrote the songs, having dinner together. Those are the moments that feel like success.”

Since then, Mackenzie-Barrow has launched a new solo project under the name Book Of Churches and dropped his first album under that moniker in March.

The duo’s upcoming tour dates include joining Mumford & Sons at their BST Hyde Park show on July 4 before playing Splendour festival in their native Nottingham on July 19. Visit here for tickets and more information.

Speaking to NME about the BST gig, Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford said: “I would like to thank NME for introducing me to the band Divorce. They’ve just become one of my favourite bands in the world. We invited them out on tour with us. I saw them on an NME cover. I’d never heard of them but now we’re fucking obsessed with them. They’re fucking incredible and more people should hear them.”

 

Divorce were nominated at the Ivor Novellos for the Rising Star award this year alongside fellow former NME Cover stars Kwn and Chloe Qisha, and BBC Sound of 2026 winner Skye Newman. The award ultimately went to Jacob Alon, who also took home the Best Song Musically and Lyrically trophy for ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’.

Other winners at the 2026 awards included CMAT who won Best Album, Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest who nabbed Best Contemporary Song, and Sam Fender being named Songwriter Of The Year.

Rosalía was also crowned International Songwriter Of The Year, while Radiohead’s Thom Yorke was handed the Academy Fellowship award by Harry Styles, and George Michael posthumously received the Academy Fellowship.

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The Place That Shaped Madonna Into a Superstar

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Long before she became one of the most influential figures in pop music, Madonna arrived in New York City with little more than determination and a clear vision for her future. After moving to Manhattan in 1978, she immersed herself in downtown life, taking on odd jobs, living in modest East Village apartments, and spending countless nights in the clubs that helped shape the city's creative scene. Those formative years laid the foundation for a career that would redefine popular music, earning her multiple Grammy Awards and inspiring generations of artists.

Few people have documented that chapter of Madonna's life as extensively as Matthew Rettenmund, widely recognized by fans as "Encyclopedia Madonnica." Through years of research and writing, the author has chronicled the singer's New York journey in remarkable detail. With excitement building around Madonna's forthcoming album Confessions II and her 11th Interview magazine cover, Rettenmund revisits the places that played a pivotal role in her rise, guiding readers through the landmarks that helped shape the legend of the Queen of Pop.

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232 E. 4TH STREET

232 E. 4th Street

“Madonna’s first NYC apartment where she lived on her own. She also lived at 102 E. 4th.”

102 E. 4th.

 
 

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599 BROADWAY

599 Broadway

“Former site of Chase Park, advertised as Madonna’s first NYC appearance in October 1981.”

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119 2ND AVENUE

119 2nd Avenue

“Former site of Love Saves the Day from Desperately Seeking Susan.”

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213 PARK AVENUE SOUTH213 Park Ave. South (between 17th and 18th Avenues)

“Former site of Max’s Kansas City. In 1981, she was advertised for the first time as ‘Madonna.'”

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30B CARMINE STREET

30B Carmine St. (between 6th and 7th Avenues)

“Former site of Vinyl Mania, a record store where Madonna did her first (and one of her only) in-store album signings for her first album Madonna on August 26, 1983.”

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542 LAGUARDIA PLACE

542 LaGuardia Place

“Site of Keith Haring’s last home in which he died. Madonna and other intimates gathered here shortly before his death from AIDS to bid him farewell.”

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30 W. 21ST

30 W. 21st

“Former site of Danceteria, the legendary club where Madonna met her friend Debi Mazar running the elevator and handed her demo to DJ Mark Kamins. Also where a key dancing scene in Desperately Seeking Susan was filmed. The place is so vital to her history she is releasing a song called ‘Danceteria.’ She said in 2021 it’s the club she most misses.”

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515 W. 18TH STREET

515 W. 18th St.

“Former site of the Roxy. Madonna frequented the joint and performed in 1983. It is also where her first-ever magazine cover was launched (also 1983), Island. In 1998, she gave a legendary late-night performance to promote Ray of Light, and returned in 2005 to plug Confessions on a Dance Floor with Stuart Price.”

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210 TENTH AVENUE

210 Tenth Ave, Empire Diner

“Empire Diner, where part of Bad Girl was shot.”

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584 EIGHT AVENUE

584 Eighth Ave

“The Music Building, where Madonna rehearsed with her first group, the Breakfast Club, in an early incarnation, and where she occasionally lived. She took Kurt Loder on a tour of the place in 1998, and just this past month did a promo with Bilt to pay rentals for people working there.”

584 Eighth Ave

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TIME SQUARE

Time Square

“Where Madonna was dropped off by a cabbie upon her arrival in NYC in 1978. Also the site of her Who’s That Girl movie premiere, as well as her 2026 TSX Confessions II pop-up concert.”

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242 W. 45TH

242 W. 45th

“Royale Theatre, now the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, where Madonna starred for months in Speed-the-Plow.”

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201 W. 46TH

201 W. 46th

 “Former site of The Gaiety, the gay strip club that appears in her Sex book.”

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141 W 54TH

141 W 54th

“Ziegfeld Theater, where Truth or Dare (1991), A League of Their Own (1992) and W.E. (2011) premiered.”

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254 W 54TH

254 W 54th

“Studio 54, where Madonna often performed past midnight and where—in the basement area now known as 54 Below—she did some of the vocals for Erotica.”

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1697 BROADWAY

1697 Broadway

“Ed Sullivan Theater, where Madonna visited David Letterman and, in 2005, rode a horse down W. 53rd.”

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2 E. 55TH

2 E. 55th

“St. Regis Hotel, where Steven Meisel—with Maripol as stylist—shot Madonna’s iconic Like a Virgin album cover.”

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1 W. 64TH / 41 CENTRAL PARK WEST

1 W. 64th / 41 Central Park West

“Harperley Hall. Site of the apartment Madonna bought in 1985 after being rejected by the co-op board of the San Remo (145-146 Central Park West). Eventually renovated it until it was a 6,000-square-foot unit on two floors. Her brother Christopher Ciccone decorated it. It sold for $19 million.”

Harperley Hall. Site of the apartment Madonna bought in 1985 after being rejected by the co-op board of the San Remo (145-146 Central Park West). Eventually renovated it until it was a 6,000-s.f. unit on two floors. Brother Christopher Ciccone decorated it. Sold for $19M.

 

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