debdepan (always lower case) are a Margate based duo who’ve been pitched as making “genre-blurring” music that’s “influenced by dance, art pop and grunge”. Sometimes, labels don’t work. Sometimes they’re so wide of the mark, they’re laughable. Sometimes, though, they can be pretty useful, and in this case, that short description is about as accurate as you’ll find. It certainly gives the listener a fair idea of what to expect when heading into debdepan’s excellent debut ‘Lovers & Others’, which presents five slabs of dark, danceable alt-rock which casts its net as far back as the 90s for influence, with a pinch of Curve and Garbage, but also has an ear on the contemporary.

The opening track, ‘The Girl’, doesn’t even allow the listener the grace of an intro. There’s no settling in time: immediately, debdepan drop their audience into a world where mumbled vocals and pulsing bass sounds share something akin to Billie Eilish fronting an 80s electro-goth band. This approach works brilliantly when building tension through the short track’s pre-chorus moments, but the duo really come into their own when those choruses explode with huge melodies that blend ‘It’s Blitz’ era Yeah Yeah Yeahs with a sharp, post punk guitar sound, much closer to that from a couple of Franz Ferdinand classics. For those who take an instant liking to this, the rest of the EP should bring a massive amount of enjoyment value, even though ‘Oh No’ sounds markedly different. Here, more of an alt-pop backdrop fills a very melodic verse, before deep and pulsing beats add a huge 90s dance influence to the chorus. In terms of showing off both extremes of the debdepan sound, it’s brilliant, and especially so when taking a riff or two into consideration that could be peak Gary Numan. Bringing everything together flawlessly, there are parts of this number where debdepan create a dance imbibed neo goth take on Wet Leg, creating a listen that takes a sort of retro-futurism and makes fresh again.

The short ‘Blue’ showcases a different debdepan yet again when a clean vocal takes centre stage and an electro inspired rhythm sets a fairly simple tune in place. There mightn’t be anything fussy here, but the track really shows off the duo’s gift for an alt-pop hook – both musically and lyrically – and by the time a distorted guitar rises up to power a strident sounding instrumental break, there’s a sense that debdepan could really attack with some sharper edges, should they so desire, without losing too much of the electronic edge that has so quickly become a part of their signature sound.

With its heavy bass loops and pulsing rhythm, the intro to ‘Habit’ throws the listener squarely back into the world of the 90s club scene, but the arrival of a deliberately understated vocal quickly takes the number somewhere unexpected, and somewhere more alternative. Despite not trying too hard to impress, the vocal is fantastic. It has a natural tone that sits brilliantly against the hard rhythm, drawing as much from the poetry scene as the rock crowd. Then, just as everything starts to sound a little like a dance-imbibed Wet Leg, the guitars drop into an equally cool post punk riff that gives the track a real edge. The push and pull between the two styles is enough to make it work brilliantly, but it’s a well arranged instrumental break powered by quieter guitar work really makes the track. There’s so much to unpack here; the arrangement has a confidence that far outweighs the duo’s short time together at the time of release. When this was shared as a single back in the summer of 2025, it sounded like an essential cut; when revisited as part of this EP, it loses none of its charm – it remains debdepan’s finest three minutes, giving people every reason to pick up this release.

‘Ghost’, at least by direct comparison to ‘Habit’, is a touch more introspective. During the opening verse, the rhythm still leans into a pulsing, danceable sound; the synths continue to share a dark, almost goth tinged tone, but the vocals and quieter elements work very effectively to build a great atmosphere. Hitting the chorus, the music begins to swell, allowing fans to hear a lot more of a familiar debdepan sound, and the lead voice really holds a great presence. The crying vocal mightn’t capture quite the same level of coolness present during the slightly detached verse, but the melody that emerges helps to create some near perfect synth-oriented alt pop. The latter part of the track introduces a little guitar, filling space with a very retro sound, and this is used as a springboard into the final chorus where each of the previous elements really come together, and debdepan spring into life with a huge electronica/alt-pop sound and infectious hook which, although not quite as immediate as ‘Habit’ adds something else unmissable to this EP.

This is great. The pre-release singles suggested it would be, but somehow, the whole of ‘Lovers & Others’ plays even more strongly than the sum of its parts. The first couple of listens show off material that feels more about mood and melody than vocal hooks, but over time, the five tracks begin to share a couple of very catchy vocal and lyrical elements that have the potential to bury themselves really deeply, making any repeat listens sound even better. This might short, but in terms of forming a near perfect debut, ‘Lovers & Others’ cannot be faulted.

December 2025