Originally known as Christian Aids, the Manchester act
Stay + cultivated an air of mystery, releasing cryptic black-and-white images instead of the bandmembers’ names. Mixing post-punk bleakness with electronic elements that evoked witch house, chillwave, and dubstep, the group put songs such as “Fever” online before releasing its debut single, Stay +, in spring 2011. Remixes of tracks by
Purity Ring,
Junior Boys, and
Esben and the Witch kept them busy, but shortly after the single’s release, the charity Christian Aid issued a trademark infringement against the group, which the bandmembers responded to by changing their name to
Stay +. ~ Heather Phares