Bristol’s restless alt-rock outfit IOTA have dropped “Pony“ (feat Heaven Unknown), and it feels like they’ve finally burned their rulebook. Heavier guitars, more emotional risk, and a collaborative spark that pushes them into territory most peers only flirt with.
At its heart “Pony“ confronts what most people dodge: owning your flaws and standing in the mess of your own story anyway. The song’s brim with surging guitars and shifting textures, tense, unafraid, beautifully jagged, all built around a narrative of self reckoning that refuses neat lines or easy closure.
The decision to bring in Will, the feral lead voice from Heaven Unknown, isn’t window-dressing. His entry in the second half flips the track into a darker, rawer gear, giving “Pony” a tension that feels lived-in and urgent. “We felt it needed two voices”, the band said, and you hear it. That duality gives the track edges that sting and resonate. It’s a first for IOTA as a featured collaboration and it makes a powerful statement about where they’re aiming next.
This comes hot on the heels of a bruising European run opening for Heart Attack Man, exposure that’s less about playback numbers and more about tightening chops on sweaty stages night after night. “Pony” feels like the sound of that grind, the emotional toll of travel and performance smelted into something fiercely honest.
So who are these Bristol bruisers exactly?
IOTA are a five-piece alt-rock band from Bristol, UK. Formed around 2017 while the members were studying at BIMM Bristol, they’ve been forging a sound that blends the grit of 90s grunge, the swirling atmospherics of shoegaze and the melodic urgency of early 2000s rock with raw, emotive vocals that can snap from whispered confession to bruising roar without warning. They’ve self-built a reputation with intense live shows and a string of singles and an EP that show depth and range across emotional and sonic terrain.
Their catalogue includes “Sober”, “Smile On”, “Out Of Here”, and recent single “Heaven”, all forward-leaning art-rock with hooks that bruise as much as they hit.
