Tuesday June 15th Alfie Jukes - Funny Little Feeling Tour \*\*\* Alfie Jukes is a born storyteller. This young singer-songwriter is on the cusp of something huge, destined to share his remarkable music with the world. His songs are a much-needed balm for our troubled times; songs of love and hope, of moving away from home and coming of age, and they are always written from the heart. Born and raised in Brighton, Jukes got his start in musical theatre – first in school plays then in a theatre job at the Royal Shakespeare Company. “My mum put me in classes because I needed a place to get rid of all my energy,” he recalls, laughing. “So for most of my childhood, I thought theatre was what I was going to do… and then covid happened and it all disappeared.” It was during lockdowns that Jukes found time to begin nurturing his latent songwriting skills. Little by little, his confidence grew and he began uploading covers to social media, connecting with his now-manager. Not long after that, he booked a support tour with the band Only the Poets: “Being on stage and that tangible connection with the audience, that’s the most important thing for me,” he says. There have been headline tours, too, drawing bigger and bigger crowds each time. In a few short years he has built an extraordinary following, with over a quarter of a million monthly listeners on Spotify and millions of views across his three previous EPs, most recently 2025’s All Dressed Up for Nothing. “I think I’d be lying if I didn’t say I want this to be as big as it possibly can be,” Jukes says. “I’ve always thought about everything in terms of the live show, from festivals to venues, so that’s really important to me. And I think it’s important to have ambition and to be open about what you want to achieve.” The last few years, he continues, have been about “figuring shit out, basically – when it comes to the music, I’m so proud of everything that I’ve put out, but this project feels the most ‘me’ of anything I’ve ever done.” We get the first glimpse of his gorgeous debut album with lead single “Edges of You”. Inspired by the hit coming-of-age musical Sing Street, Jukes set out to capture that same heady rush of infatuation: “Slowly it became about me and my girlfriend, about watching someone from afar and wanting to know them more,” he says. Enveloped by rousing acoustic guitars, he whisks you along on the journey as his devotion grows: “I’d tell a few lies if I had to/ Learn a new language to understand you/ I’d dye my hair or start a band/ I’d put the world in the palm of your hand.” The song soars and soars, sparkling with bright piano notes that evoke the wide-eyed nature of young love.