The London R&B trio are building a fanbase through an intriguing mix of 90s hothousing, a 00s-style ‘journey’ and modern-day social media intimacy
Last week, two brand new UK girl bands spent some time with their respective fanbases. For Flo – the Brit-award-winning, BBC Sound of poll-topping, magazine-covering new hope – the fans were in Paris, waiting outside a star-studded Loewe fashion show in the hope of grabbing a selfie. In London, meanwhile, an R&B girl band so new that they have almost no music or even a name held a gathering at a branch of ice-cream parlour Creams to celebrate a year since completing their lineup. Billed on their social media accounts as “needanamebro”, teenagers Yssy, Amelia and Maddie have quickly gathered momentum, reaching nearly 250,000 followers and 11m likes on TikTok. Their path has been an intriguing, era-straddling mix of classic 90s girl band hothousing, letting fans share in a 2000s X Factor-style “journey” and a hefty dose of modern-day social media intimacy and world-building.
While the nascent girl band’s event had the feel of a typically ad hoc, ironic teenage hangout at a brightly lit sweet emporium, it was underscored by major label efficiency: they’re signed to Atlantic and managed by pop band star-maker Modest, former incubator of Little Mix and One Direction – both parties clearly keenly aware of the potential for a new girl group to fill a Little Mix-shaped hole in pop. A special needanamebro menu was created as a keepsake featuring different ice-cream specials for each member (Amelia’s teeth-rotting Amazing Kinder Bueno Waffle With Bueno Gelato, for example). Over the course of a sugar-rich 90 minutes, the London-based band hung out with a portion of their fanbase like best mates, immersing them in a world that’s still being constructed: their Soundcloud page has one song – a gorgeous, harmony-drenched cover of Drake’s Massive – while a playlist of favourite tracks (and obvious stylistic signposts) features the Sugababes, SZA and 90s US R&B trio Brownstone.