Writing of Astra Forward back in 2022, we described how the London-based artist combines “classic folk stylings as well as a timeless ethereal atmosphere channeling a bond between human emotion and the natural world that feels somehow ancient.” New single ‘Ben’s Birds’ again possesses a link to nature, though this time the real focus is memory. Joe Taylor (drums/percussion), Callum McGuinness (production/bass/nylon strung guitar) and Laura Hussey (violin) help create a sound capable of conjuring thoughts of a past friendship in vivid detail, and thus breath new life into something precious. “With writing ‘Ben’s Birds’, I hoped to bring into colour ageing memories that felt like they were fading,” the artist explains. “The song seeks to reflect something of this gentle soul’s beauty and our connection, while expressing broader themes of memory, endurance and grief.”

Bennett Heidelberger – Eater of God/100usd

Having been around the Nashville music scene for a number of years, Bennett Heidelberger finally decided to release some songs of his own in 2024, starting with EP Wood Ducks. That record was a collection of small, tender tracks which centred on loss in various guises, from bereavement to the end of a romantic relationship. Now Heidelberger is back with new double single ‘Eater of God/100usd’, a pair of songs no less heartfelt in their execution yet showing a newfound sense of scale and weight. The former opens in a sincere hush before developing into something bigger and bolder, and ‘100usd’ follows suit with Heidelberger’s weightiest sound to date, the tone slightly more wry but lacking none of the emotion.

boyhood. – looking for you

Back in August we wrote about boyhood., a project which represents “an attempt […] to consider what has been gained and lost through the slow process of self-actualisation,” as we put it. “To save the parts worth saving, and potentially fill in the gaps.” Like previous single ‘wes anderson (your dog)’, new track ‘looking for you’ rises from restrained, downbeat beginnings into something richly affirming, as though the track’s confessional tone coaxes the sound to life. An exploration of love and grief most striking for its authenticity, delivered with the ambience of the moment left intact. “I recorded dozens of ‘clean’ vocal takes between October and now, and ended up just keeping the crude demo and bringing in friends to help me build around it,” boyhood. explains, “keeping the imperfections and clicks and bits of conversation to maintain the emotional space I wrote it in.”

‘looking for you’ is out now and available from the usual places.

Lavender Blue – Wishbone

Based in the mountains of Asheville, NC, Lavender Blue is the recording project of Kayla Zuskin. Following on from 2022 EP Slow Down, Lavender Blue is back with new singles on Ghost Mountain Records. The latest of which, ‘Wishbone’, takes inspiration from the image of a tree split in two yet continuing to grow, something moving in different directions but fundamentally united at the root. “[The song is] about the cognitive dissonance we all can experience when people or places inherently grow apart but alas remain connected,” as Zuskin puts it. Mary Steinbrecher (bass, vocals) and Jack Victor (drums) lend the talents to bring to life a sound that owes as much to emo as it does folk or dream pop, combining sharp and smooth textures to evoke the duality at the track’s heart.

Lofi Legs – Chain

With a new album on the way, San Francisco indie rockers Lofi Legs have returned with the single ‘Chain’. We previously wrote about how they melded “garage rock and bedroom pop with psych and surf sensibilities […] to capture the highs and lows of life,” and the new track builds upon the vibe to gloriously hazy results. Harking back to the buzz bands of the early 00s, ‘Chain’ delivers a brightly carefree spirit within a bundle of scrappy energy and fuzzed-out textures, leading to a sound that is entirely committed despite not taking itself too seriously. Watch the suitably surreal video below:

‘Chain’ is out now and available from the usual places.

Matthew Squires – Song of a Cactus

‘Song of a Cactus’, the latest single from Matthew Squires, was penned during the pandemic, though its sense of lost direction was familiar before the virus, and has persisted to the present day. “I have that annoying songwriter habit of wanting to defer to the work itself rather than my explanation of it,” Squires says, “but I’d say it’s about finding some quiet sense of desperate hope in an apocalypse.” Fans of the Texas songwriter will recognise the idiosyncratic and heartfelt tone, with a newfound use of synths deepening the mood without sacrificing the raw immediacy so key to Squires’s work. The result feels like an urgent dispatch from within an uncertain present. As Squires concludes: “I wanted to make sure I released it before the election as my little quixotic attempt at creating a psychical place of refuge in anticipation of whatever direction the world might lurch.”

Routine Caffeine – Philodendron

We first wrote about Routine Caffeine at the beginning of the year, describing how single ‘In The End Now’ embodied the Louisville outfit’s “penchant for rich, bittersweet soundscapes” and introduced their EP, Weeds Under Concrete Stones. With the full release now out in the world, Routine Caffeine have shared new single and opener ‘Philodendron’. It’s a track which marries a taut central rhythm with a dreamy haze, and hints at a sharp bite too, all highlighting just how much control Katie O’Brien Kelley (vocals, guitar), Madison Elizabeth Case (bass, synth, background vocals) and Emma Treganowan (drums) have over the mood of their work.

Sarah Swire – Tight!

Recording under the moniker Sister Swire, Toronto songwriter and actor Sarah Swire has caught our attention with with a delightfully idiosyncratic brand of art rock, from the nuanced, ominous take on psychosis on ‘I Shot the President’ to the unapologetically malicious fun of ‘Pulleys and Gears‘. Released under her own name, new single ‘Tight!’ is every bit as inventive as its predecessors, and has no less force in its bite. Owing as much to the weird fiction of Joy Williams as it does Captain Beefhart or Nick Cave, the track is a monologue delivered in the manner of a wound spring, twisting tighter and tighter until it unravels in a moment of chaotic release. The video—directed by Swire and shot by Nicole Cecile Holland, with animations and editing by Eric Stephen Martin—only furthers the surreal intensity of the track, Swire’s movements charged and contorted by her words as if not so much speaking or singing as channelling a deeper energy.

‘Tight! is out now and available from the usual places.

Shady Baby – Held In

Released to celebrate a successful year including a performance on the main stage at Y Not Festival and shows with Malice K, Shady Baby‘s new single ‘Held In’ is a fitting way to cap off 2024. With the Brighton outfit leaning further than ever into the bittersweet drama of nineties alt rock, the song finds Sam Leaver and co. pairing weighty crescendos with emotional depth, leading to what might be their most assured, evocative sound to date. A sense of control binds the majority of the track, though the constant simmer of its energies pays off in the soaring conclusion. Watch the video filmed by Meg Sweeney and directed and edited by Leaver below:

‘Held In’ is out now and available from the usual places.

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Ahead of a second full-length record due sometime in the near future, Pittsburgh‘s Animal Scream have released brand new single, ‘Fires After Dark’, released via American Hermitage as a 7″ vinyl along with b-side ‘Cinnamon Blue’. The song was written during 2020’s turbulent summer of protest, with duo Chad Monticue and Josh Sickels describing the track as concerning “the essence of creating art during twisted up days, even when you feel out of place and at your most insignificant.” What results is something which lives up to its title, a sound undoubtedly dark and a little chaotic, though its energies are channelled into bright sparks of defiant feeling.

‘Fires After Dark’ is out now via American Hermitage and available as a 7″ single from Bandcamp.

Astra Forward – There, There, Here Is Here

Astra Forward is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in London who makes what she describes as “dreamy and intimate songs about the enchantment of nature and the power of human connection.” Latest single ‘There, There, Here is Here’ captures this ethos beautifully, with classic folk stylings as well as a timeless ethereal atmosphere channeling a bond between human emotion and the natural world that feels somehow ancient. It is at once delicate and powerful, existing in a barely-there hush before Pascal Colman’s guitar comes winding out of the shadows with ominous strength. “It feels like this song was written for me, not by me,” Astra Forward describes, “because when my world collapsed, ‘There, There, Here is Here’ was what I needed to hear. My hope is that it can be your medicine too.”

Girlpuppy – I Want To Be There

The recording moniker of Atlanta‘s Becca Harvey, girlpuppy is gearing up to release new album When I’m Alone this autumn on Royal Mountain Records. The involvement of Marshall Vore (Phoebe Bridgers) on debut EP Swan led some to label girlpuppy the heir apparent to the sad girl indie folk crown, and latest single ‘I Want To Be There’ does little to dispel the tag. Centring on the time a landlord kicked Harvey and three friends out of the dream home, only for the friends to up and leave for New York, the song paints a self-deprecating picture of emotional distress. “I felt like I had no friends which made me wonder what was wrong with me,” she explains, “which kind of made me spiral into self-hatred. I like to call this one the ‘self-hate anthem’ of the album.”

When I’m Alone is out on 28th October via Royal Mountain Records and you can pre-order it now.

The Human Fly – A New Perspective

Philadelphia/New York outfit The Human Fly have recently released Thrill of Living, a new album on Dead Definition. Opener ‘A New Perspective’ introduces their blend of alt-country and indie rock, as well as the distinctive delivery and lyricism of lead Robert Mathis. A search for a home, or even just a clearer definition of exactly what that might mean. “I need a new perspective / I need a new directive / been nameless as a comet,” he sings, his tone finding a line somewhere between heartfelt sincerity and Berman-esque wryness. Moving through states, seeking something which might not exist.

Maybe home is just perpetually chasing peacefulness
or maybe home is when you find it
and if I do, I can send you the address

Izzy Oram Brown – Mess

Having spent years honing her craft, be it studying musical history or supporting other musicians, Brooklyn‘s Izzy Oram Brown has recently unveiled her debut album, Mess. Despite being Oram Brown’s first real foray into songwriting and production, and irrespective of the title, the album is a careful, finely-tuned collection. The product of time dedicated to music, all the prior learning put to new use. The title track introduces the record’s themes and narrative, and in turn signals the relevance of the title. The inherent messiness of life, be that within the tangled desires and hang-ups of a relationship or a person’s connection to the wider world.

And the birds they sang, their final breaths
And the Tennessee heat pressed down on my chest
I do not remember making this mess
I do not remember making this mess

Pet Owner – Hi-Res

The recording project of Lucerne, Switzerland’s Lea Mathis, Pet Owner combines pop, folk and electronic styles into a transportive, idiosyncratic sound. Ahead of upcoming debut Natural Behaviour on Red Brick Chapel, new single, ‘Hi-Res’ introduces the inventive shapes such a combination can take. Mathis’s vocals skate over a bed of playful electronics, the whole thing ebbing and flowing to add an organic air to the otherwise digital soundscape.

Rachel Angel – Closer to Myself

Miami’s Rachel Angel is set to release new album Midnite Heart Attack next month on Ruzafa Records, an album born of a difficult time spent abroad. The title refers to “a defining moment of reckoning,” Angel explains, “upon which one is confronted with the decision to change or die,” and single ‘Closer to Myself’ goes some way to delineating the result of such an epiphany. A classic country pop song describing a moment of movement from uprooted confusion to the solid foundation of self-assurance. “Roll around in circles feeling lost,” Angel sings, “Got stuck in the britches on a cross / Ring around the rosie / Paint me true,” though soon a direction forms and with it understand:

I’m getting closer to myself
And less to you

And when I finally close my eyes and see
I find that it was always in front of me

Rich Ruth – Older But Not Less Confused

Earlier this summer, Rich Ruth released I Survived, It’s Over, a brand new album on Third Man Records written at home in Tennessee “amidst the quiet and tumult” of a tornado’s aftermath. This juxtaposition informs the near endlessly inventive sound, the record challenging any distinction between order and chaos, hush and noise, and indeed that between humble domestic beauty and the massive sublime. No one track can be representative of a record so adventurous, but ‘Older But Not Less Confused’ is as good a diving in point as any, and the video directed by Brook Linder goes some way to capturing Rich Ruth’s ability to knit seemingly disparate elements into a cohesive system far larger than its constituent parts.

I Survived, It’s Over is out now via Third Man Records and you can get it from the Rich Ruth Bandcamp page.

Sonic Løland & Simen Mitlid – Everything at Once

Back in February we wrote of And Then the Sun Came Up, the debut album Sonic Løland coming later this autumn on Koke Plate. New single ‘Everything at Once’ invites Simen Mitlid to help create something delicate and heartfelt, though the soft indie folk sound of the first half is changed midway through. The sound suddenly becomes distorted, feedback coming from the guitars, as though some alteration has occurred from which there is no return.

And Then the Sun Came Up is out via Koke Plate in September.

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