KEEP your eye and ear out for Usselman, an exciting synth and guitar pop band from Southend who have been signed to Blow Up Records and are just about to release their debut album.

The video for the second single off it - With the Tides - a hooky, upbeat earworm reminiscent of Eighties pop meets Noughties nu-disco, nu-wave and indietronica - has already been doing the rounds on social media and beyond, and is gearing up for radio play and distribution into shops. You can get ahead by streaming it on Spotify, Apple Music or see it on YouTube.

Led by Chris Usselman, the band's story began when he made an album - All Fun and Games Until Everyone Goes Blind - in his own spare room.

Not long after it got picked up by London based label Blow Up (run by ex-Southender Paul Tunkin) and is now due for release this summer.

Chris explained: "After the album contract was signed, I was lucky enough to be able to get a band together with three of my best mates and my close cousin, and after working out how to do the songs live, we are enjoying gigging and excited for whatever the future may bring."

You can see them locally at the following venues:

Saturday May 5: The Alex, Alexandra Street, Southend

Saturday June 2: The Railway Hotel, Clifftown Road, Southend

Saturday August 4: The Railway Hotel, Clifftown Road, Southend

I caught up with Chris, for a quickfire question session:

KB: So tell us about Usselman – how do you describe your sound? I thought the new track sounded a bit like Metronomy. Are they an influence?

CU: Yeah definitely, I love Metronomy. I think a lot of influences come through in the sound of the album, like Talking heads, Bowie, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, loads more. I would say the sound is reminiscent of Seventies and Eighties pop, but hopefully still sounding fresh.

KB: Please can you introduce us to yourself and the other members, what else have you and they been in?

CU: I'm Chris Usselman, lead vocals and guitar, I've been in a few bands over the years but its been a while for me since gigging. There's Natalie Martin (guitar/backing vocals) and Lisa Martin (bass and backing vocals). People may know them as local legends The dirty Fairies. Lisa also sings for Primo Nelson, who are ridiculously good. There's Stevie Gee pounding the drums who used to play with Stratus, and there's my cousin Lenny (also an Usselman) on synth and backing vocals, who used to be in The Local Wildlife.

KB: You’ve just released a video for your track With the Tide. That looked like it was probably a lot of fun to make. Can you tell us about it please?

CU: Yeah it was, we did it ourselves in a day, recorded on my phone and then edited as best as our very limited know-how could manage! I'm really happy with how it came out, it was such a simple idea of using fluorescent materials under black light that luckily looked pretty good in the end, not bad for a first attempt anyway. I really enjoyed making it. There are plenty of ideas floating about for the next one now.

KB: Love the track. I’ve already watched the video three times and have had the song stuck in my head ever since. What is it about?

CU: Ah nice one, cheers. I guess on one level its about not losing sight of what matters, as a collective, sticking together and trying not to get sucked into the empty, vacuous side of life that seems increasingly prominent and hard to avoid. The opening line, All fun and games until everyone goes blind', is the title of the album.

KB: How did you get signed to Blow Up records? What was the story leading up to that?

CU: I made the album as a solo project over the course of a couple years, on and off, just because it was something I really wanted to do. I had no intention of doing anything with it really other than show it to my mates and hopefully get a few listens online. Once it was finished I put it up on Soundcloud, and within a couple of weeks I got a message from Blow up Records. It turned out that one of my good friend's brother, Joe Lamb, who runs London Road Studios in Leigh, had heard it, liked it and passed it on to Paul from Blow up. Its all happened from there, getting the band together, re-mixing and mastering the album and now just enjoying gigging again and looking forward to seeing what happens.

KB: What is next in the pipeline for Usselman?

CU: It's early days, we've only done four gigs so far but they all seemed to go down well and we've loved doing them. So basically just get more gigs, and build up to the release of the album in the summer. Its all a bonus to me, I never expected any of this so I'm just going to enjoy it.