Salford’s poor effort returns with industrial ‘city of hope (The Cutter Remix)’

The track is the first instalment from forthcoming poor effort remix EP: vol 1

“Matty Dagger certainly has some unique tales to share and, paired with his engaging and languorous way of delivering them, he’s an unstoppable force” – DIY Magazine

“Love that voice!” – Deb Grant, BBC 6 Music

“Observational lyricism portraying the essence of bored Britain” – Louder Than War

“In a landscape cluttered with superficiality, poor effort offers a refreshing dose of sincerity and substance” – The Pentatonic

poor effort – city of hope (The Cutter Remix) – Out Now
From forthcoming poor effort remix EP: vol 1
See poor effort live – Wed 13 May 2026 – Brighton, Alternative Escape Festival
Released on Home Taping
AUDIO / VISUAL

Following the release of his debut EP last year, Salford-based artist, Matty Dagger returns under the poor effort moniker with a reimagined version of one of its defining moments. city of hope (The Cutter Remix). Reworked by the hotly tipped Manchester electronic trio, arrives as the first instalment in a forthcoming collection of remixes, signalling a new phase for the project while casting familiar material in a strikingly different light.

The complete body of debut work from poor effort, released via emergent label Home Taping in partnership with EMI North, collated a run of beats-and-blunt-bars singles that cut through ambient, lo-fi and synth-punk soundscapes.

Beginning the poor effort project in 2024 with the self-released anti-anthem You’re Wrong, I’m Right (Symphony), Dagger quickly found space on local and national airwaves before live crowd pleaser, HMRC arrived to lament low pay and the limbo of working life. Returning in 2025 with city of hope, a guitar-driven state-of-the-nation commentary balancing opportunity with inequality, the artist lit a way through modern metropolitan contradiction and cemented the arrival of the now-complete poor effort EP.

Now, city of hope is stripped of its driving guitar riff and rebuilt from the ground up. Pulsing 808s, industrial textures and atmospheric synths reshape the original into something darker and more immersive, with Dagger’s spoken-word vocal cutting cleanly through a moody, pulsating mix that bridges alternative, electronic and leftfield UK sounds.

Reflecting on the remix process, Dagger says:

“The remix was pieced together with file exchanges in between tours and then finalised over a couple of sessions at my studio. It was really interesting to see Charlie’s approach and how he would typically make a song for The Cutter using the foundations of ‘city of hope’, then Lucy did a great job on the mastering too. It placed the track in a totally different light.”

Forming part of a forthcoming poor effort remix EP: vol 1, the release sets the tone for a broader collaborative series featuring contributions from not only The Cutter but Nightjar, The Karate Suit and poor effort’s own reworkings. Each reinterpretation aims to refract the project’s existing material through new creative lenses, offering alternate pathways into the same lyrical and sonic world.

The Cutter is made up of Ewan Kinrade (vocals), Charlie Marriott (guitar) and Lucy Green (synths), bring a distinctly atmospheric approach to the remix. Drawing comparisons to New Order and Cocteau Twins, the trio blend influences spanning goth, electronica and shoegaze, combining pulsing drum machines, layered synthesisers and textured guitars into a fresh take on the indie-goth continuum. Building on the rhythmic momentum and garage-leaning foundations of the original track, their version of city of hope lays a bed of samples and shimmering atmospherics beneath the distinctive vocal delivery, revealing new dimensions within the material.

poor effort’s steady ascent continues alongside an expanding live presence. Forthcoming dates include:

Connect with poor effort:

LinkTree / Instagram / Bandcamp