Sorry - COSPLAY

Indie Rock – Released November 7, 2025 – 11 songs, 38 mins

ROZ

This week we look at a band that came to my attention when their second studio album, Anywhere But Here, found itself in the TSR queue back in 2022. It was there where I fell in love with this deliciously weird North London outfit and became enamored with their gritty, multi-layered genre-bending sound. Three years have passed since then and their third studio album has been released, which begs the question - what has changed and how have things evolved since going from there, to here? As both a personal and critical fan, I couldn’t wait to find out. This week, we review COSPLAY by Sorry.

As album singles began slowly trickling out across 2025 and with a new album seemingly on the not-so-distant horizon, I began tracking down interviews with the 2-person songwriting powerhouses Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen - the driving forces and lifeblood of the group. Through these interviews, I discovered that the duo was on shaky ground for some time; a natural occurrence I suppose when it comes to the grotesque world of touring and it’s associated mental, physical and spiritual tolls. I was disheartened and damn near frightened when I found out that Lorenz and O’Bryen were not on speaking terms for a period of time, and that Lorenz was fighting her own personal battle with depression. From the perspective of a music reviewer, this could be seen as an ominous death rattle for a band that finds a modicum of success in the stars before crash landing back on earth.

Luckily, these feelings were not validated by this record. Clearly, any specific ill-will carried across 2023 and 2024 did not cause any sort of lasting damage, as COSPLAY is as perfectly strange as my expectations allowed. In fact, if anything, the erratic nature of its tracklist seems to reflect the journey that the band has been on, highlighting once again that the human experience can be captured, refitted and emitted into a musical medium, to great success. COSPLAY, much like its predecessor, pays no heed to any one type of genre, theme or tone. Lyrically the duo are as tongue-in-cheek as ever, to the point where everything feels like one giant inside joke that we, the listeners, have gleefully been made apart of. Lorenz once again sounds fantastic on lead vocal, again utilizing a certain softness that acts as the perfect juxtaposition against the sonic backdrop she performs against. It was this stark contrast of fragility and grit that made me fall in love with Sorry in the first place, and COSPLAY depicts both qualities in spades.

One major takeaway I had was the escalation in raw energy this go around in the form of heavier synthesis and more diverse sample selection. The Portishead-esque sensibilities and effects are cranked up a notch compared to Anywhere But Here, escalating even further at times into full on electro ‘bangers’ - look no further than Waxwing for that. High energy output quickly dissipates into a low simmer (more than once I’ll add), a sonic expression of the bands manic nature. Stand outs include tracks Jetplane, Antelope, Today Might Be The Hit, and JIVE, however you’d be hard pressed to find anything worth skipping save for the overly repetitive Magic, a song that doesn’t quite get off the ground. The album also reminds you time and time again that this band is much more than just its two lead stars, proven through stellar performances from bassist Campbell Baum, drummer Lincoln Barrett and keyboardist Marco Pini. You'll find no slouches here.

On COSPLAY, Sorry once again showcases how delightfully different they are. Against the backdrop of interpersonal struggle and progressive fame, this album proves that this band has exactly what it takes to stick it out and reach their full potential.

Overall Rating: 8.2/10

Favourite Song: Waxwing

LUNDI

For the second time in four years, TSR close out the review year with Sorry, the oddball indie rockers who refuse to see their output trapped in any single sub-genre. On COSPLAY, staying weird and staying focused pays dividends, landing as the band’s third terrific album in three attempts. One last dive for 2025!

With COSPLAY, Sorry don’t simply shift styles; they pull them inside-out, stitching slivers of indie rock, trip hop, and post-punk into shapes that don’t resemble any of the originals. The album is an exploration of everything more they have to offer rather than an amplified statement on who they’ve already been. Dreamy arrangements collapse  from their own weight into distorted melodies enveloping the listener in smooth sensation despite the endless jagged edges. 

What keeps it all from flying apart is the emotional fibre running underneath. As the arrangements swerve, the record circles feelings of disconnect, yearning, and a restless urge to reinvent. It never feels stitched together from random impulses but a band trying on numerous personalities, each shift exposing a new angle of the same unsettled core. Every choice feels deliberate. Sometimes unsettling, sometimes seductive, but always purposeful. 

A delicate vocal and grand display of production anchor the album. The slightly distant but magnetic vocal delivery of Asha Lorenz holds the chaos together, giving emotional weight to off-kilter instrumentation and fractured song structures. Synths smear across the mix like wet paint, guitars dissolve into static, percussion flickers and rearranges itself mid-song. The album doesn’t chase loud or quiet dynamics, only to be dense as possible, expanding out in unpredictable waves to dreamlike or even hallucinatory surroundings. The result isn’t comfortable, but it’s magnetic — an album that keeps reshaping itself in your memory long after it ends.

COSPLAY is an endless string of weird dynamic shifts from a band determined not to be boxed in. Sorry are one of the most undervalued and under appreciated artists there is. 

Overall Rating: 8.2/10

Favourite Song: JIVE

REID

A written review on December 4th? That’s right. Typically TSR has concluded new material by now but internal commitments bumped our schedule. The truth is I’m a little distracted. Our podcast for the 2025 year-in-review is on Saturday. It’s the best day on the calendar for the blog and one of my favourites overall. It’s always so fun to hear the boys reveal their best-of lists and how close they are to mine, the correct one. But I must temporarily suppress my enthusiasm and dig into one final album. In a year filled with follow-ups from TSR favourites, it’s fitting we managed to squeeze in Sorry. The last time we spoke of the experimental rock group out of North London was closing out 2022 with their sophomore release, Anywhere But Here. Three years later we do the same with Cosplay.

It’s always interesting to revisit our old reviews. This is especially true when submitting a new entry from an already ventured artist. In trying to stay current by sharing our thoughts within a week or two of a release, we effectively throw hindsight out the window. I like to think we handle it well most times. I bring this up because many of the takes from our three-year old breakdown of Anywhere But Here apply to Cosplay.

First and foremost is the genre bending. In 2022, Lundi pleaded for the appreciation of musical weirdness from the masses before highlighting the band’s impressive array of styles. Roz applauded their hybrid arrangement and tasty sonic textures that elevated the tracklist. I spoke of a record with an unorthodox approach, without a script. All of these sentiments ring true on this follow-up effort from Sorry. You can expect the unexpected from track to track. Jetplaneand Love Posture have Nine Inch Nails-like grit paired with Asha’s edgy vocal and sharp lyrics. Antelope is a stripped down acoustic love song where Asha steals the show once again with an out of structure delivery. Today Might Be The Hit is a two minute and eleven second upbeat rock song with chanty lyrics fit for a concert. Waxwing and JIVE compete for most progressive, both stacked with catchy synth hooks and switches. Into The Dark feels deeply emotional but doesn’t stick the landing of a big build.

One song showcases Sorry’s singer-songwriter skills more than the others and that’s Out of This Body. Like their last album, Louis O’Bryen does lead vocal on just this one track on Cosplay. It has a Bon Iver feel and he delivers a powerful message of commitment with this lyric:

People will sell me

Everybody changes

I have loved every version of you

Asha joins him quietly mid verse and eventually concludes the beautiful love song.

Outside of the innovation, another trait Cosplay shares with its predecessor is dark, moody undertones. Releasing in the fourth quarter of the year on two consecutive records may be strategic, capitalizing on the gloomiest of seasons.

The future was bright for Sorry after a breakout sophomore album. Cosplay is just as raw and ambitious as its predecessor. The UK group continues their steady ascension on the indie scene.

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

Favourite Song: Today Might Be The Hit