The recent evolution of Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s sound into something significantly more pop probably wasn’t on the bingo cards of the band’s peers in the early 2020s Brixton Windmill scene. When they started as experimental teens, they took their lead from bands like Black Midi, who’d managed to take unlikely instruments and strange sounds and turn them into overnight success. “You can listen to Led Zeppelin but you can’t be Led Zeppelin. It’s a lot more conceivable if you’re 17, and there are bands who are 21 and come from the same city and are doing really well, to see that as a path for where you can go,” says singer-guitarist Billy Ward. ⁣ ⁣ However, in the last couple of years, Man/Woman/Chainsaw have been allowing their more conventionally melodic side in, and finding that their idiosyncrasies and pop smarts can exist in satisfying harmony. “I remember feeling so desperate to be outrageous as a kid, but it’s actually chill to just be chill,” grins Vera Leppänen. “And it’s not like w...