Masca announce debut album ‘Love Letters’ will be self-released 03 April 2026
Its first love letter, single ‘Oxytocin’, is out today
See the band live on their headline UK tour this month
Bristol trio Masca today announce that their debut album ‘Love Letters’ will be released 03 April 2026. The news comes alongside the release of feelgood new single ‘Oxytocin’ and its music video. This lead track serves as the perfect introduction to ‘Love Letters’ as vocalist and guitarist Christina Maynard explains that it’s: “A song for my baby, or to music, or anything that soothes you. A song about waiting for something to come and change everything. I was pregnant when we wrote this and, although I didn’t quite realise it was specifically about having a baby then, it encapsulates everything I felt about waiting for Cassidy (my son).”
As well as poignant compositions directed to Tina’s son, ‘Love Letters’ delves deep into band life and its intricacies (‘Act My Age’, ‘Love Letters’), billionaires f*cking up the world (‘Fitting In’), working in hospitality on minimum wage (‘DWIW’) and plenty more besides.
Masca purposefully toe the line between glittering melodies and blistering riffs. Fronted by Tina (guitar, vocals), alongside Jack (drums, vocals) and Ben (bass), their music is built for curious minds who also want to move their bodies. It’s rock with a pop sparkle, and pop with a rock snarl.
Masca was born in 2021, in the thick of lockdown. Tina and Jack, living together in a tiny Bristol flat, suddenly found themselves with nothing but time - and a mortgage they weren’t sure how to cover. With Jack newly self-employed and ineligible for government help, the pair started livestreaming their jam sessions, dropping a PayPal link just to get by. What started as survival quickly turned into something else: the discovery that writing together wasn’t just fun - it was magic.
The duo decided to take it seriously. After lockdown lifted, they hit the stage as a two-piece, quickly selling out their first headline shows in Bristol. Still, they craved a bigger sound. Enter Georgie Ward - piano and synth virtuoso - who joined for 18 months before being whisked away to tour the world with Dua Lipa. At Georgie’s farewell gig, fate stepped in: in the crowd was Ben, who introduced himself afterward and was jamming with Masca within days. By the second rehearsal, a new song had been born, and the lineup was complete (again).
Momentum gathered quickly with a breakout set at 2000trees festival soon following. Life hasn’t slowed Masca down either. Even with a new baby in the mix. Masca built a home studio in their garden so rehearsals could roll on while the baby slept. The grind is still real, but it’s powered by love, belief, and a refusal to stop creating.
“The writing process is one of my favourite parts of being in a band,” says Tina. “We’ve got 1000’s of voice notes of little melody ideas and riffs that I force Jack to listen to on long car journeys. In hindsight, we had way too many ideas floating around at the start of this album and it was actually really difficult to organise them, a lot of these songs have been around in some form for years and have changed form a lot of times. It can be really stressful to feel like ideas you’ve had are being lost as you try and hold all the strings together and hone them into a coherent form. Ben is always really helpful in filtering ideas and bringing them to life as songs.
Once we had the demos done we went to the basement studio at The Louisiana to record. We had a week and half there to get all the drums, guitars and bass done. I was in the first trimester and hadn't told anyone I was pregnant yet. We'd found out while finishing the last couple of songs on the album, I remember feeling a little unwell while we were writing 'Bones' and taking the test. The result obviously stopped us in our tracks and it wasn't the reaction I'd expected. Coming to the realisation that life was going to change whilst writing a song was strange. I can't explain the feeling but I can take myself back there clear as day. It’s like you're about to go down a water slide but are too scared to let go.
The morning sickness really kicked in as we started to record the album. We hadn't told anyone yet so navigating needing to throw up between rocking out was a different experience. I'm sure we'll plan it better next time haha. We then built a vocal booth out of duvets and recorded the vocals at home. I felt at home because I was at home, and it meant that whenever I felt in the zone, and not sick, I could just step into the booth and get some vocals done. I put some fairy lights up inside that had a dying battery - they were so dim that I couldn’t tell they were even on until I’d been in there for 20 minutes. It was a safe haven for me and I’d definitely do it again and again. I've always recorded vocals in front of the band/producer but this time Jack and I just did it by ourselves. There's a vulnerability that comes when you're creative, and you've got to really learn that that's okay when you're creative with other people. Being in a band with Jack was a breath of fresh air because, as well as being married to him, I trust him implicitly. And so if I write something he doesn't like, or do a take he thinks I could do better, I trust that it's because it's genuine and not competitive in any way. And going through this process with Jack has made me more comfortable with being vulnerable with other people.
We also had the privilege of having the lead singers from 2 of my favourite bands right now, Sans Froid and Peach, sing on the album. They are absolute power houses who bring their unique style and energy to our songs. They came and smashed the vocals out in a day, also in my duvet den.
We mixed the tracks with Elliott (Vaughan - Lucky Thief, Terrorvision, Sonic Boom Six)) at his home studio and are incredibly grateful for his time and input. It is such a luxury to have the time to properly go into the details in the mix rather than just get a rough mix and send over a few notes over email.
We really wanted to push ourselves with this album. It was quite an eye opener for me being on tour with IDLES (filling in for them on guitar in 2022) and I had to really improve my playing. Literally everything changed about my playing and performing through that tour. I got the confidence to experiment with different pedals and play with different sounds. I learned how to tremolo pick (thank you Lee) and they taught me that the most important thing is to have fun and not sweat the show/session. I really used to get inside my head about my guitar playing, and now I’m way more accepting of what my limitations are, and how they make me me. ‘Elevate’ and a couple other songs on the album are played on the telecaster I used on the tour, and that Lee gifted me at the end of it.”
For Masca, being a band isn’t just about chasing success - it’s about resilience, family, and chasing that moment when melody meets riff, and everything clicks.
SEE MASCA LIVE:
11/12/25 - London, Sebright Arms
12/12/25 - Nottingham, JT SOAR
13/12/25 - Bristol, The Exchange
30/05/26 - Southampton, Heartbreakers
12/06/26 - Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge
MASCA ARE:
Christina Maynard - vocals, guitar | Jack Hamilton - Drums, vocals | Ben Holyoake - Bass
CONNECT WITH MASCA:
Linktree | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Spotify | Soundcloud | Website
‘LOVE LETTERS’ TRACKLISTING:
Act My Age
Elevate
Love Letters
Oxytocin
Cry Baby
Sucker
Fitting In
DWIW
Bones
Diggin’
Old Friend
