The up-and-coming UoY indie-rock band The Jefferies released their eagerly anticipated debut album on Friday. The trio, all from James College, only formed in October 2023, but they have fast become the stars of the Campus music scene.

Titled The DTEF Queen Is Dead, their first studio album explores the relationship between the built environment and the individual, and is inspired by the University of York’s crumbling campus following the departure of Harvey Dowdy, the Director of Estates, Technology, and Facilities.

Featuring eleven tracks, including singles The Scaffolding Is Here To Stay and Chop Down The Weeping Willow, there is no shortage of fury, credit to drummer Manny Cutts, whilst the licks of bassist Alf Allen-Down prove intense and destructive.

However, it is on the later tracks where the band shines the brightest, with Small Change, Big Impact featuring lyrics that could be plastered on every wall. On the title track, frontman Don Loss laments the departure of Dowdy. Its Central Hall-filling chorus of “across the campus, in each space // you brought the best to every place // the hum of progress filled the air // maintained with passion, skill, and care” is bound to resonate with the University community for months to come.

The band revealed to The Lemon Press that they are already working on a follow up album, Severances Here We Come, which will be released in the near future.

First published in Issue 63