As part of ONE HULL OF A NIGHT – a city-wide pop-up festival celebrating Hull as a Music City.

King No-One + support from The Glasshouse

KING NO-ONE

With a name as regal as their ambition, King No-One have been quietly reshaping the boundaries of British alt-pop.They are now set to release their much-anticipated debut album, The Burden of Empathy, in April 2026.

Emerging from the heart of northern England’s working-class sprawl, this charismatic trio built their reputation the old-fashioned way: relentless

touring, sweat-soaked gigs, and a catalogue of singles that bristle with both confidence and vulnerability. Their journey is steeped in the working-class grit and realism of their upbringings, a theme that weaves unmistakably through their sound and lyrics.

Bringing together glistening guitar riffs, punchy rhythms, and poetic narratives, their sound is both urgent and heartfelt, reflecting a band who wear vulnerability like a badge of honour.

Vocalist and lyricist Zach Lount, never shy of raw honesty, channels his lived experience into songs that are as revealing as they are relatable.

Alongside Joe Martin on guitars and Rob Gration on bass, the songwriting is a testament to their roots, each track a vignette of northern life, steeped in nostalgia, resilience and the persistent yearning to belong. It’s music that’s as much about catharsis as it is about connection.

Take ‘Transgressions’, a confessional anthem where defiance against societal norms collides with the vulnerability found in love and self-acceptance. “Transgressions is an open and honest song about myself and how I never really got along with the normalities in our culture… until I fell in love and stopped resisting society and just accepted who I am”, he explains, inviting listeners to walk the same tightrope between rebellion and reconciliation.

Nostalgia and identity are also painted vividly in ‘Turkey Dinosaurs’ which sees the band retrace their childhoods along the terraced streets of their youth. The scent of oven-cooked meals, the camaraderie of friends knocking on doors to ‘play out’, these vignettes become a celebration of

Northern working-class life, even as they acknowledge the barriers faced by kids whose dreams rarely made primetime. “You can’t change where you came from so accept what you have had to do to be where you are now” the lyricist asserts, its warmth underpinned by an unflinching honesty.

But it’s the album’s title track, ‘The Burden of Empathy’, which lies at the emotional heart of King No-One’s debut. Here, the band’s empathy is both gift and curse, a force that connects them deeply to others’ pain, yet at times threatens to overwhelm. “Every song on the album touches upon empathy in one way or another, but The Burden of Empathy writes the story,” says Lount. The lyrics wrestle with the paradoxes of feeling deeply: the ability to understand is celebrated, but the sorrow it brings is never far behind. The song’s final verse, reflecting on a childhood bully who later took his own life, captures the profound introspection and humanity that sets King No-One apart.

With The Burden of Empathy, King No-One don’t just introduce themselves, they throw open the doors to their world. It’s a debut album that’s as unguarded and unflinching as the band themselves, sure to resonate with anyone who’s ever felt on the outside, and anyone whose heart has ever felt too full.

THE GLASSHOUSE

Hull four-piece indie rock band The Glasshouse have built a strong reputation in just over 16 months, becoming part of the city’s thriving and rising music scene.

The band — Ryan, Dylan, Alex and Michail — first began playing gigs in pubs around the county in late 2024. Now, as they move into early 2026, they are preparing to take their music to bigger cities across the country, including Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle.

In May 2025, The Glasshouse independently released their debut EP, Don’t Throw Stones. The release helped them make their mark locally, leading to their first appearances at The Adelphi, a slot at 2025 Humber Street Sesh, appearances at Polar Bear and a support slot for The Slates at Social in November 2025. Shortly after, the band won the historic Scunthorpe Rock Open. Over three rounds, they won each stage of the competition unanimously, a proud moment as the only Hull band in the competition. The victory generated further interest heading into 2026.