Leeds Alt Folk-Pop duo Sunflower Thieves share the music video for their single ‘Already Taken’. They also announce a UK Headline Tour starting in York on 22nd April, with dates in Manchester, Edinburgh, Brighton, London and Birmingham.
For fans of Marika Hackman and The Staves, Sunflower Thieves is made up of childhood friends Amy Illingworth and Lily Sturt-Bolshaw. A self-produced partnership, SFT take a blueprint of dreamy, rousing soundscapes and inject it with grit and vulnerability, nurturing their unique sound based on their deep friendship connection.
Lyrically, Already Taken is about trying to process living without somebody after they’ve chosen to leave you, and the everyday reminders they leave behind. It’s the post-break up sadness, and you can try your hardest to keep parts of it close, but maybe there’s actually not that much to hold on to in the end.
Speaking of the track, Amy says, “We wrote this song with two of our closest friends, Sam Perry and Tom Hammond, while I was right in the midst of the feeling it describes. I’d also had to give up my first car for scrap a few months previously to the break up, which felt like another first love lost, and was so interconnected with that relationship.
We got my brother Laurie to play piano across this track, which was recorded at home and is so special to us – it became such a huge part of how the song moves. He’s a huge part of the Sunflower Thieves family and one of the people who made the sadness I was feeling at the time, a lot lighter, which we feel he’s also done on the track.
Personally, the song feels comforting now, being so far away from the feelings it depicts, but to someone else, it might be just what they need as they’re going through something.”
On the music, video they say, “At the time of writing Already Taken, I [Amy] was living back in my childhood bedroom post-break up, and I spent a lot of time writing in there. We finished the song together with friends Sam and Tom, at home, and the video captures the time spent together, just hanging out, not asking much of each other, and me recovering, which was pretty much how we got through that period of time. We worked with videographer Nick Porter, leaning into a 2000s feel to create a comforting, nostalgic space, which was what my old bedroom became to me during this time.”
The track was recorded at Eiger Studios in Leeds as part of a project Lily was managing in her previous role with Leeds CIC, Come Play With Me. Lily says, “As part of the project, we worked alongside a small group of people from marginalised backgrounds, who were pursuing a career in the music industry, specifically in studio and live sound engineering.”
Amy and Lily found their feet in the musical hotpot of Leeds to form Sunflower Thieves. Gathering plaudits from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Radio X, Clash, The Line Of Best Fit, Atwood Mag and many more, they released their debut EP ‘Someone To Be There For’ in 2022 and follow up ‘Same Blood‘ EP in 2024.
The duo have toured the UK alongside the likes of Tors, Samantha Crain, Lexie Carroll, Dan Croll, Lewis Watson, Hayley Blais, Flyte, Say She She, Hannah Grace, Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly & more. In Sept 2024, Sunflower Thieves played their debut headline tour with packed-out shows in London and at the legendary Brudenell Social Club in Leeds.
Hot off the release of their summer single ‘Say The Word’, ‘Already Taken’ marks their last release of 2025, bookmarking the year in preparation for new music in 2026. Watch this space!
Sunflower Thieves Online:
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