THE FRONT ROW

There’s something unmistakably “North-East” about Taste To Run, the debut single from Hartlepool’s newest indie export, Champ. It’s in the atmosphere: the swirling guitar textures, the emotional heft, and the quietly defiant lyricism that calls to mind the likes of Sam Fender, Wunderhorse, and The War On Drugs.

That reference point to Sam Fender isn’t a lazy regional comparison either. Over the past decade, the North East has cultivated a distinct musical identity, gritty but hopeful, heavy on melody but grounded in the realities of post-industrial towns. Champ step straight into that lineage with a debut that’s confident, textured, and emotionally resonant.

Taste To Run opens with a wash of layered guitars, jangly, shimmering, and full of longing. It’s immediately expansive, reaching for something bigger than the four walls of the room it was written in. Bee’s vocals cut through with urgency, not just lyrically but tonally. There’s a weariness in the way he sings about wanting something more than the hand you’re dealt, but also a determination to do something about it. “There’s no time like the present,” he says about the track, and he means it.

This isn’t indie by numbers. There’s craft in the arrangement, and real purpose in the pacing. The rhythm section, courtesy of Will Hamilton on bass and Tom Sotheran on drums, gives the track its engine, keeping it propulsive without ever overshadowing the soaring guitar work from Luke Cowley and Bee himself.

Lyrically, Taste To Run is rooted in the everyday: mates, mistakes, late nights, and the moments that shape us. But Champ elevate the ordinary into something cinematic. The track plays like a coming-of-age film set on the North Sea coast, windblown, battered, but still burning bright.

Even the single artwork tells a story: a grainy photo of a local footrace through the streets of Hartlepool in the 1970s. It’s a fitting image. Like the race, the song is about movement, momentum, and the desire to break out of your surroundings without forgetting where you’ve come from.

For a debut single, Taste To Run is remarkably assured. It captures a sense of place without becoming stuck in it, and introduces a band with both heart and ambition. There’s an emotional core here that suggests this isn’t just a one-off single, it’s the start of something much bigger.

With live dates lined up through summer and autumn, Champ are already laying the groundwork for their next chapter. If Taste To Run is any indication, it’s going to be a journey worth following.