R51

Northern Irish quintet Wynona Bleach came together in Belfast toward the close of 2012, merging epic shoegaze textures with melodic alt-rock and dream pop. Operating first as R51, the founding quartet—singer Melyssa Shannon, guitarist Jonny Woods, bassist Anton Hughes, and drummer Matt Killen—delivered their opening single, "Boxkite," in 2013, then welcomed guitarist Aaron Black as the fifth member ahead of issuing "Slowhound" the next year. BBC airplay helped the ensemble enter the festival circuit, where they played Leeds and Reading in 2015 behind the Pillow Talk EP. Staying fully independent, R51 kept advancing on self-determined terms by releasing the No Chill EP in 2016 and the single "Heavy Friends" in 2017, after which they headlined a tour of Russia. In January 2018 the group declared their shift to the Wynona Bleach name and put out "Eyes Burning" as the first single under it.