Manchester-based indie artist Sean Morrell built his sound the hard way; teenage acoustic shows in Hull, six years DJing at Spiders Nightclub, and a full-band setup in Manchester.
His latest release, Tinted Eyes, pushes beyond the post-punk indie rock of 2025 EP Intoxicated, bringing synth keyboards and bigger melodic hooks into songs still rooted in guitars, live energy and Northern indie influences.
For this FM PRO Quickfire 5, Morrell talks about finding his identity as a musician, learning how to command a crowd, developing his live band and using synths to expand rather than replace the rock foundation of his sound.
Q1. Tinted Eyes feels like a step from post-punk indie rock into something more melodic and synth-led. What pushed you towards that change in sound?
Most of these songs were written at a time where I was still figuring out who I was as a musician, and as a person. Every song I’ve released so far (other than the intro for the EP) was a part of my major project at uni back home in Hull.
I wanted to take these tracks with me when I moved, and it made sense to do the more typical rock band stuff first – the post-punk indie rock EP was very much paying homage to the music I was raised on, and concentrating on just the rock band arrangement when starting up a live band made the job easier.
Q2. You describe your lyrics as arriving through a stream-of-consciousness process, with the EP moving from party songs towards love. How important is that sense of narrative when you sequence a project?
I do tend to write how I’m feeling as it comes to me with lyrics, and all these songs are written lyrics first. I think finding music that belongs underneath each track is part of what helps tell the story across a project.
Q3. Your early years took you from acoustic shows around Hull to DJing at Spiders Nightclub. How did moving between those two very different settings shape you as a performer?
I think DJing was the first time I started to find who I am as a performer, I was pretty erratic in the DJ cage and lived the moment up to the max. I do feel most comfortable on stage when I’ve got a microphone and no instrument to play, so I can fully focus my energy on being the singer.
I’d go to Spiders on my nights off and still kind of be in character, it was difficult to separate being the DJ from just being myself. That experience definitely helped me work out my own boundaries as a performer and what works best with the audience.
Q4. Since moving to Manchester, you’ve built a full band and played venues across the city and Liverpool. What has that next chapter changed about the way you want your music to feel live?
I feel like we’re just getting started with live band, we’ve been on bills with so many amazing live acts, and right now we’re at a place where we just wanna steal the fucking show on every bill we play.
It’s been a good fuel to help us improve, and I’m a lot more confident with the band now that we’ve all had time to get to know each other as musicians and as people.
Q5. FM PRO TECH Q: Synth keyboards became a bigger part of Tinted Eyes, especially on Yellow and Blue, My Dealer (Loves Me) and Natalia. How did you and producer Francis Gill use synths and production to expand the sound without losing the guitar-led identity underneath?
I think the drums changed more than the guitars. My Dealer and Natalia feel fundamentally like really energetic rock songs that need to be played loud, while Yellow and Blue swaps an electric rhythm guitar for an acoustic.
The way I use synths sits somewhere between vocals and lead guitar, and I enjoy creating huge melodies with synths. So much of what I listened to growing up, from Blossoms, to Calvin Harris, CHVRCHES and The Wombats have done similar sorts of things, and it’s a way of creating music that I really love.
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