Swiss post-punks Batbait are preparing to release their debut album this September, and latest single ‘Talk’ certainly whets the appetite. With a deadpan vocal style delivered over rhythmic drums and a tense bass line, the track threatens to spark into furious life for most of its runtime, though despite the discordant guitars passing over haphazardly, it isn’t until the closing section that the real bite reveals itself. A lesson in passive aggression which can’t help but eventually show its claws. Check out the claymation video by Nadia Leonhard below:

‘Talk’ is out now via Irascible Distribution and available from the Batbait Bandcamp page.

Foyer Red – Flipper

Described as “fuck-you crayon rock”, the music of Foyer Red combines colour and bite to great effect, blurring the line between fun, fury and fantastical charm. New single ‘Flipper’ embraces this style wholeheartedly, swinging wildly between sugary sweet and strikingly strange to weave its way between the real and imaginary. As the track barrels its way toward the chaotic climax, any distinction between the two seems to dissolve, leaving a trip to the bodega as desperate and dangerous as scavenging a post-apocalyptic world.

i’m a ravenous creature left to roam the earth
set against a scorching sphere
no one here, my own frontier
rusted into this warzone
i’m all alone, i have no bones (no bones)
not yet full grown, i’d eat your bones
bones, bones

‘Flipper’ is out now and available from the Foyer Red Bandcamp page.

Healees – In Your Cave

Based in Paris, Healees are a four-piece band who make noisy but sweet pop music that harks back to the C86 era. Formed back in 2015 after a chance meeting between Bryan Quinn and Renaud Chauré, the band soon added Hillevi Robertsson (bass) and Arthur Chen (drums) and set to work on writing songs, culminating in 2019 with the release of the demo tape Heal’s Beals. Now Healees have teamed up with Hidden Bay Records to release their first proper debut, a self-titled EP that contains polished versions of some of the demos as well as brand new tracks. One such new song is lead single ‘In Your Cave’, which on the surface sparkles like the summer sun but is undercut by a sober wistfulness.

Jacob Faurholt – Madness on the Rise

Back in March we wrote about, ‘Comforting Sounds’, the first single from Jacob Faurholt‘s new album, When the Spiders Crawl. A nostalgic track “downbeat but coloured by an overriding fondness.” Latest single ‘Madness on the Rise’ picks up this melancholic tone, exploring mental struggles with Faurholt’s characteristically empathetic and understanding style. But it carries a certain starkness too as the electric guitar rumbles with palpable weight, a formidable force bubbling up around fragile vulnerability.

When the Spiders Crawl is out on the 15th July via Raw Onion Records and you can pre-order it now.

JayWood – God is a Reptile

JayWood is the alias of Winnipeg songwriter and producer Jeremy Haywood-Smith, who has recently announced a brand new record coming this summer on Captured Tracks. Haywood-Smith began work on the album as an escape from what can only be described as mourning, both from the various social crises of 2020 and the death of his mother in 2019. He began by reconnecting with his roots, pulling back into the past in order to fire himself forward into a better future, hence the title Slingshot. For an album that explore such deep territory, it is surprisingly fun and playful, presenting a near-real version of his life that combines fact and imaginative fiction to explore themes of childhood, religion and identity. First released standalone back in March, lead single ‘God is a Reptile’ is the perfect introduction, a kaleidoscopic blend of groovy pop and bummed-out angst, complete with refracted layered vocals and surreal tempo changes. Check it out below:

Rob Dickson – Aaron and Rae

Based in Whitehorse, Yukon, Rob Dickson is a songwriter gearing up to release brand new record, Portraits, later this year. With guests including Ansley Simpson, Bry Webb, Mika Posen, Nic Hyatt, Micah Smith, Drew Jurecka and Michael Feuerstack, the album assembles some of Canada’s best to realise its rich and emotive sound, as demonstrated by lead single, ‘Aaron and Rae’. An ode to the past which drops the rose-tinted fondness in favour of something more real and raw.

Shady Baby – Come To Life

The project of Brighton‘s Sam Leaver, Shady Baby is the latest emerging act to be featured in the ‘Nice Swan Introduces…’ series of UK label Nice Swan Records (which has also included the likes of Sprints, English Teacher and Saloon Dion). Leaver is joined by Laurie Debnam (guitar), Nick Varnava (bass) and Tom Jackson (drums), who together make contemporary indie rock that draws heavily from the Britpop and Madchester scenes that dominated British music in the 90s. Shady Baby have introduced this style with ‘Come to Life’, their debut single for Nice Swan. It’s a track that belies its angsty subject matter with pure heart-quickening energy. “‘Come To Life’ is an angry response to feeling like people treated you like shit but you let them get away with it,” Leaver describes. “Feeling both angry at them but also at yourself for letting it happen.”

‘Come to Life’ is out now and available via streaming services.

Weird Nightmare – Searching For You

Best known as the guitarist and vocalist from METZ, Alex Edkins has turned to new project Weird Nightmare as an outlet for another dimension of his creativity. The self-titled debut album, out now via Sub Pop, leavens the foreboding weight of Edkins’ usual material with a mischievous fun, as captured in the hectic single ‘Searching for You’. A track which is no less pedal-to-the-metal than anything in the METZ catalogue, but engages this energy in an entirely different direction. Check out the great video directed by Ryan Thompson with animation from Jordan “Dr. Cool” Minkoff:

Weird Nightmare is out now via Sub Pop and you can get it from Bandcamp.

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