Indie band celebrates Top 40 breakthrough

An unsigned indie band from Portsmouth have described breaking into the UK Top 40 with their debut album as an "incredible feeling".

Toothpaste by Crystal Tides reached number 37 on the official album chart, but also climbed to number one on the album download chart and number four on the independent album charts.

"The last eight years have been hard work but we're very proud of what we've achieved as an independent band," the group said in a statement.

The Official Charts company called the album a "bold, heartfelt body of work that celebrates their independence while delivering polished, stadium-ready anthems".

The band's influences include The Wombats, Sea Girls, Blossoms, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Two Door Cinema Club.

They have sold out shows at local venues Portsmouth Guildhall and Wedgewood Rooms, and in March play their largest UK headline tour so far, including the Electric Ballroom in Camden.

Toothpaste was produced by long-time collaborator David Evans in studios at Portsmouth University.

The band said: "We're so proud of the support around us. No label, no big team and fighting against the biggest artists.

"We've been through a rollercoaster of emotions this week as we've been up and down the country doing acoustic in-stores and press, but it's all been worth it.

"Our fans have kept us going with their support. Watching them come out and support us time and time again, it means everything.

"We couldn't have done it without our amazing fanbase. They truly are the best community we could ask for. This is for them."

Steph Nieuwenhuys, presenter of BBC Introducing in Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, who debuted Crystal Tides on the radio in 2018, said she was "so excited" for the band.

"They've absolutely smashed it... we just think they so deserve this," she said.

"Crystal Tides have got a great, bright indie pop sound and the record is brilliant, so we're super chuffed for them."

Speaking on the show on Wednesday after finding out the band's mid-week chart placing was number 18, singer and guitarist Billy Gregory described it as a "very, very long week, but a very, very exciting week for us".

"It's been years and years of work saving," he explained.

"It's so, so hard in today's society as a band to survive, so we've been really, really strict pretty much for this moment, and everything that we've built we've put into this album and releasing it ourselves, and we've put absolutely everything behind it."

You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.