The Human Touch: Marika Hackman goes full frontal for DIY’s July cover

Ever since Marika Hackman took team DIY into her bedroom last year for a preview of what she’d been working on - no, really, just check out our In The Studio piece - we’ve been chomping at the bit to discover what sort of filthy delights her new album would boast.

Now, as she gears up for the release of ‘Any Human Friend’ next month, we meet Marika to discuss her new album’s inner workings: from difficult break-ups to unapologetic romps in the bedroom, via a scorching summer spent recording in her pants, with her new album, she’s very much laying it all out on the line.

“I think we need more wank anthems, especially for women,” she confirms, cheerily. “The more the merrier, that’s how I feel.”

And though ‘Any Human Friend’ is a deeply personal record, Marika also acknowledges that, standing shoulder to shoulder with an outpouring of other queer experiences told by numerous other musicians’ work, her music becomes part of something larger. “Power in numbers is a thing,” she agrees. “This is my life. But sharing that, and knowing there are people out there who maybe haven’t heard that voice before - I certainly didn’t, growing up - is a nice feeling.”

Elsewhere in the July issue, we hit the road with Two Door Cinema Club, as they whip crowds into a tizz across the UK ahead of their newest record’s release, we head into the studio to talk Mystery Jets’ new album, and find ourselves in Glasgow, necking Buckfast and meeting the city’s newest breed of musical creatures: The Ninth Wave, LUCIA and Walt Disco.

Things get heavy in our conversation with Ezra Furman about his forthcoming album ‘Twelve Nudes’, while indie wonders Swim Deep quiz the larger-than-life Wayne Coyne, on The Flaming Lips’ new record. Plus, we bring you all the Official Best Bits Of Glastonbury 2019©.

The new issue of DIY is out this Friday - you can find it at these places listed here, read online from midday Friday, or order a copy right to your door.

Photo: Ed Miles.