Here we are already, March is nearly upon us! Before you know it, we'll have daffodils and tulips lining the streets and everyone will have a Spring in their step. But until then, we are bringing you more news and musical offerings. So, grab a cuppa, sit back and let us talk you through what's been happening!

First things first, our website. Although the physical shop remains closed at the moment, our website is open 24/7 - meaning you can nosy at your convenience! If you haven't already, take a dig about www.waxandbeans.co.uk to see what we've got going on. We are constantly adding pre-orders (let us know if we miss any you fancy) plus, we've tried to keep it as simple as possible with an 'in stock' section for the items we can ship immediately.

Local? Take advantage of our free local contactless doorstep deliveries. We service postcodes BL0, BL1, BL2, BL3, BL4, BL5, BL6, BL7, BL8, BL9, M24, M25, M26, M27, M45, OL10, OL11, OL12. We'll see you real soon :)

Here at Wax and Beans we like to stay one step ahead of the game and have our fingers on the pulse when it comes to upcoming releases. We've included our favourite for this month below, but you can check out our full list of pre-orders here.

Just a word of warning, they move quick, so don't miss out!

As always, we do want to hear from you! If you've got any suggestions for a pre-order we don't have listed, message us here. You can also chat to us about anything else using that same link.

Our favourite pre-order this month is The Coral - Coral Island.

The wheels rattle into the thrilling unknown on The Coral’s first new music since 2018. Find the unsurpassed, metamorphic gonzo-pop five-piece in the company of crooks, sell-by-date candyfloss and plastic skeletons as they release Faceless Angel. Of misplaced memories from a place and time that might never have been, the track precedes a new and vividly evocative body of work from the legendary Merseyside band in the form of their TENTH and first, ever double-album: Coral Island.

The Coral - Coral Island (2LP Translucent Lime Vinyl) - £25.99

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Ladies and Gents, meet Luna aka Dave, the new addition to the Jackson-Soothill household. Luna is a Sheepadoodle and is a perfect match to our logo and brand. Oh and she's dead cute too!

Watch out for Luna's album of the month in coming issues!

Check this out, we're super honoured... we were chosen as Record Tokens Record Store of the Month for January!

Record Tokens are a fantastic gift idea for the friend, foe and family member that digs vinyl. We sell and redeem them at Wax and Beans but you can also spend them at dozens of other indie stores throughout the UK too. Thanks for the ace hamper team RT. Big love.

Did you miss out on a copy of the very limited black and white splatter edition of Ist Ist's "Live from the attic"? Well fear not, as the band still have copies left of their stunning red and black splatter edition of this highly sought after record. Secure your copy here.

Here at Wax and Beans, we believe that sharing is caring. So every month we'll be picking one album to share with you awesome people. Right now, the album is. . . . 

Django Django - Glowing In The Dark (Limited Luminescent Green Vinyl) Includes Signed Card & Sticker

Over the course of their extraordinarily accomplished discography to date, Django Django have constantly headed left where others have gone right. Described by The Guardian as “capable of making music that sounds close to perfection”, they are known for their genre defying eclectic sound and their new album “Glowing in the Dark” heralds, once again, the beginning of a thrilling new era for the band.

Django Django - Glowing In The Dark (Limited Luminescent Green Vinyl) Includes Signed Card & Sticker - £22.99

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As always, we've invited one of our incredibly loyal band of customers to nominate a record that has really made their year. This month, we asked Sue Ferro, aka Sooz, a few questions about her music loves.

Sooz is a fellow Charlatans fan who we met through twitter and our mutual appreciation of Charlatans / Tim Burgess. She has visited the old shop a few times.

"Thanks for the honour of having me in your newsletter. I’m not local to your shop but I have watched with interest, as you took your dreams of running a record shop to reality. I made a few visits to the first shop during trips to Manchester and hopped on the tram to Bury.

Since lockdown, I have been very grateful for your wonderful and prompt postal service! I’ll be in again for a browse and a coffee, as soon as we are allowed to travel.

What's your favourite album of 2020?
It’s a tie between I Love The New Sky by Tim Burgess and The View From Halfway Down by Andy Bell

Best musical discovery of the past 12 months? (Band or album)
I have been participating in Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Parties since Lock-down last March, so have a long list of new discoveries, but a stand-out is the band Taffy, from Tokyo, Japan.
We listened through their lively and loud shoegaze-style music on their 2019 album ‘Deep Dark Creep Love’ and I ordered it immediately on vinyl and cassette. They seem like a friendly group on social media too. I look forward to their return to UK to play gigs again.

What's your favourite live music venue, and why?
I prefer to attend gigs at small, intimate and independent venues, barrier-free if possible and easy to get to. The 100 Club on Oxford Street in London ticks all those boxes and has a legendary historic status. Always a great night there - once you have secured a ticket!

Live gigs: front centre stage, stood at the back or in the stalls, where will we find you?
You will most likely find me on the barrier at gigs! I miss travelling for gigs and seeing my favourite artists and bands such as Johnny Marr and The Charlatans.
It will be amazing to be in an audience again, once we can all get back."

This month we have asked the hugely talented Grace Gillan to write about a very important topic to us all, climate change and how music can help and promote the cultural change needed to create a better future.

Grace Gillan AKA Penny Wigglesworth is a Dorset based mother, musician and climate/human rights activist that has spent the last 7 years supporting refugees and protesting through non-violent-direct-action for the UK government to respond to the climate crisis. She is the lead vocalist for the band Psychadelephant that are soon to release an EP featuring songs inspired by her experiences whilst protesting for climate justice with Extinction Rebellion and at the StopHS2 camps.

The Power of Protest in Music Today - Music Declares an Emergency.

By Grace Gillan

I have been invited to write a little about the power of protest through music, my experiences as a musician and activist and what can be done right now to encourage our industry to evolve into a more benevolent creature that honours the needs of a world facing environmental and societal collapse.

Since the dawn of humanity music has been one of our most raw and provocative means of expression, be it a war cry or a lullaby, a love song or lament. What defines humanity? The qualities that make us human, love, compassion and creativity. When the first bone was healed and the choice was made to stay behind, we evolved into something more than survival of the fittest.

You could say I come from a very musical background. From an early age I would sing along to my favourite musical heroes, trying to emulate the tone and delivery, I was enchanted with the feeling and sound of the human voice and its limitless power to evoke emotion. As I got older and my consciousness blossomed, the lyrical content of the songs started to resonate with me on another level that was equally powerful. 

Billie Holliday was an early favourite of mine and I will always remember how the song “Strange Fruit” left me utterly brokenhearted when I realised it’s tragic reality. Audaciously macabre and confronting, she wrote it in 1939 as an explicit protest against the lynching of Black Americans. I was awestruck by her bravery, her irreverence and ability to capture the feeling of an entire generation in a few words and chords that are now encapsulated in time forever. This was the beginning of my love for storytelling and protest through music.

I am privileged to be part of the earth protector community here in the UK and be able to draw my inspiration as an artist from my first hand experiences on the front line. I see it as an honourable duty to document the time we are living in and indeed the true history that may likely be left out of future school curriculum's. But there is now a dawning reality that we must all do more, we must change, and fast.

Read Grace's write up in full on our latest blog post.