Windmill scene

The Windmill scene is a musical scene that originated around the Windmill pub in Brixton, London, during the late 2010s and early 2020s. The term is usually defined with a blend of experimental rock and post-punk, featuring erratic, spoken vocals as well as inspiration from genres such as progressive rock and post-rock.^[2][3][4] A key figure on the scene's formation is producer Dan Carey, who signed many Windmill bands to his record label, Speedy Wunderground, which has also given it the name Speedy scene.^[5]

Among the bands described as being part of the scene are Black Midi, Black Country, New Road, Squid, Shame, Maruja, the Last Dinner Party, Fat White Family, Heartworms, Goat Girl, PVA and occasionally, Fontaines D.C.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Described by the Ramapo College of New Jersey's Ramapo News in 2025 as "the most significant movement in rock music in the past decade", the Windmill Scene began to be acknowledged by mainstream outlets like NPR Music and The Independent in the early 2020s as an emerging force in British guitar music. Another name used to refer to the scene is "Post-Brexit" new wave, scene or music. Matthew Perpetua of NPR explained the term, writing "For one thing, there's no getting around how much of this music is a direct response to the social dynamics of post-Brexit England... The politics aren't always foregrounded, but there's an unmistakable feeling of shame, disappointment and pessimism about Britain's future permeating all of this music." Nonetheless, Black Midi bassist Cameron Picton criticised the term in an article in 2022, saying "I don't think there's actually any bearing of Brexit on any of our music. And if you were going to call anything post-Brexit, it would be the bands that are starting out now, maybe."^[9]

The movement's frontrunners have achieved important commercial success, with Black Country, New Road's Ants From Up There album debuting at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, and a well received performance by Black Midi of the song "bmbmbm" on the Hyundai Mercury Prize in 2019. The scene is widely described as sharing a spoken vocal style as well as a blend of experimental rock and post-punk.^[2][3][4] Nonetheless, some of the scene's biggest exponents, such as Black Midi and its guitarist Geordie Greep, began to incorporate different influences to their work, such as progressive rock and world music, as well as indie rock and chamber pop in the case of Black Country, New Road. The Windmill scene has also begun to have an influence in foreign acts, with the United States' Geese^[10][11] and Sprain,^[12] and Chile's Hesse Kassel^[13] and Enola Gay^[14] being compared to Windmill bands.