Over the last decade, Portland-based songwriter Alela Diane has established herself as one of the most interesting and consistent songwriters in contemporary folk music, putting out sixth full-length albums since 2003 debut Forest Parade. Next month will see the release of the seventh, Who’s Keeping Time?, with Fluff & Gravy Records and Loose Music. The album sees a return to a more collaborative style, and latest single ‘Dusty Roses’ highlights the compassionate sound which results. “I wrote this song about a dear friend of mine whose path took a wrong turn a number of years ago,” Diane explains. “I think she’s still alive, but no one knows where she ended up. I believe that we all have the capacity to lose ourselves along the way. I’ve seen it happen again and again, whether through mental health struggles, drug use, addiction, trauma, depression, or grief. So many of us have seen someone we love lose the light in their eyes, and become a stranger to themselves. It feels like we’re all just teetering on the edge, and some just don’t have a sturdy enough footing to get back on track. This one is for all the lost girls.”

Watch the video Diane herself below, with direction and camera assistance by Soraya Kim (aged twelve):

Who’s Keeping Time? 22nd May via Fluff & Gravy Records and Loose Music and you can pre-order it now.

Alex Zhang Hungtai – Mother / Sidewinder

You might recognise Taiwan-born, Canada-based artist, musician and actor Alex Zhang Hungtai from a number of different things, be it acts like Dirty Beaches, Last Lizard and Love Theme, the composer behind themes for films like Hlynur Pálmason’s Godland, or as part of one-night-only-at-the-Roadhouse band Trouble in Twin Peaks. But now he is now pursuing a more improvised style of music under his own name. This June sees the release of double album Orion/Mother via American Dreams, and Hungtai has shared a single from each of the records to give an indication of the singular, visionary sound which awaits. “Both tracks share a common theme,” as he expands. “An exploration of the primordial state within the unconscious that leads to a confrontation with what is unspoken and hidden. The symbolism is neither negative nor positive, but a guide that snakes its way across the psychogeographic terrain of the mind.” An ideal entry point to a double album which layers a variety of instruments, an ensemble of collaborators and indeed an array of time periods over one another, recombining a patchwork of past and present to conjure something entirely new.

Orion/Mother will be released on the 19th June via American Dreams and you can pre-order it now.

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh – Wissahickon

We last wrote about Brittany Ann Tranbaugh back in 2023 with the release of single ‘We Could Be Comets‘, a track which saw the Philadelphia-based songwriter portray love from different angles. Embracing both the intense yearning of the early days and the slow burn yearning upon reflection, the result painted something rooted in the real world, too complicated for romantic epiphany yet no less magic for it. “In her compassionate and always controlled tone, [Tranbaugh accepts] that a happy ever after might not be possible,” we wrote, “instead parcelling the feelings into brief moments which burn bright if only for a moment.” Now Tranbaugh is back with ‘Wissahickon’, a track no less authentic in tone, though one unafraid to embrace romance unapologetically. One in which playfulness and humour do not preclude sincerity, lending the whole thing a distinctively Prine-ian vibe.

My girl’s a redneck with a PhD
She don’t condescend to me
She took a lot of hits and a lot of heat
She came out tough and she came out sweet

Now we’re waist-deep in the Wissahickon
Like her so much let her take me fishin’
Didn’t know what I’d been missin’
Sunlight making the river shine

FAITH PLATES – Fever

Born in Germany to Romanian-Hungarian immigrant parents, FAITH PLATES might have grown up in various places around the world, spending time in South Carolina, China, Germany and the UK, but her music is marked by a clear fondness for the US of the early 2000s. Take latest single ‘Fever’, a decidedly nostalgic track built from the simplicity of vocals and guitar which pines for a time and place now left behind. Or perhaps one which never quite existed, the song evoking an idealised version as remembered from afar, packed full of striking details amid an otherwise hazy warmth (“Spanish moss and / magnolias in / the summer breeze / remember me”). However, there’s also a melancholy built into such a style, the implicit knowledge of having lost the thing so dear, and worse, knowing it can never return.

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

Henry Nielsen – Beginning Of The End

Part of the current folk rock revival, North London songwriter Henry Nielsen follows in the footsteps of contemporaries like Brown Horse, taking the rustic charm of classic country tunes and adds a decidedly seventies-style polish and warmth. Ahead of debut full-length Hollyhocks next month, Nielsen has shared latest single ‘Beginning Of The End’. Described as “the story of someone who can’t meet the people in their life halfway,” the song follows a narrator towards the impending realisation of the title, its easygoing rhythm tracing an accumulation of regrets in real time. So though the sound is assured and romantic, the situation it brings to life is anything but. A snapshot from a relationship that’s ultimately doomed, the protagonist gradually opening their eyes to the consequences of actions.

Watch the video directed by Lawrence Dodgson and Will Thomson below:

Hollyhocks will be released on the 29th May. ‘Beginning of the End’ is out now.

MEGGO – Jaws of Life

We last wrote about MEGGO back in 2024 with the release of EP eavesdropper ;; death stories. “‘brooklyn, pt. 1’ has a lot more going on beneath the surface than you might glean on first listen,” we wrote of the lead single. “Each layer carries its own shade and meaning, accentuated by [Megan] Ennenberg’s warm and soulful delivery, [and] there are other dimensions to the track too. Stylistic choices which go beyond tone and structure and into its execution, as though MEGGO is inviting us not only into Brooklyn but also the song itself.” Now MEGGO is back with a new single ‘Jaws of Life’ and the result is similarly nuanced, Ennenberg using the duality of the titular equipment (where hydraulic force, almost violence, is used to rescue and comfort a victim, and ultimately return them home). “This song means a ton to me. Writing it helped me imagine my future and appreciate my past,” she explains:

There are a bunch of little secret sonic nuggets throughout the song that infuse it with good vibes, like the sound of my love coming in and out of the room while I was recording vocals, my dear big brother slaying the harmonica, and a roommates choir made up of a bunch of the friends I’ve built homes with throughout my 20s. Their voices singing together sound like a hug. So much is uncertain and spooky these days but this message feels simple and clear and unwaveringly true, a reminder of what’s good and important, that love is the strongest stuff.

Swapmeet – Sand

“Pairing jangle and fuzz with a buoyant energy, the track represents the very best of the project,” we wrote of Swapmeet‘s ‘I Know’, the Aussie four-piece’s first single having signed with Winspear. “A sound able to encompass both sardonic slacker bite and cathartic alt rock release, rising from sly, taut beginnings into something with serious size and heft.” Now Swapmeet have announced their new album Mount Zero, and new track ‘Sand’ shows off a different dimension to the band. A more reflective and earnest track which mourns that which is lost within contemporary youth, where a thousand distractions rob some of the magic away from the experience. The dual vocals only ramp up the emotional resonance of the sound, though while the style might seem more restrained than its predecessor, the conclusion still whips itself up into something of a cathartic release.

Watch the video directed by David Milan Kelly below:

Mount Zero will be released on the 17th July via Winspear and you can pre-order it now.

Thin Lear – Healing Alone

We’ve featured a number of singles from Thin Lear‘s new album Many Disappeared in recent months, from the Mothman-inspired ‘Silver Bridge‘ (“the song uses the myth as a way to investigate grief and its accompanied challenges, pushing deeper than the usual cheap thrills of the story to probe at the weightiest of issues”) and personal trauma-tale of ‘Witness‘ to the supremely ambitious and evocative ‘A Cherished Man‘, which followed a trio of dysfunctional characters as they searched for human connection in a world which seemed set against it. With the record now out via First City Artists, Thin Lear has shared the closing track as a final single. A suitably haunting number which again teases a narrative to life with careful details and an enveloping mood, while Matt Longo’s vocals add a very human compassion too.

Friend, can you hear the call?
From deep in a tomb
Oh, I see ‘em now, the sad eyes
Fixed to the stone
Oh, I can see ‘em now, the sad eyes
Fixed to the stone

Many Disappeared is out now via First City Artists and you can get it from the Thin Lear Bandcamp page.

Tory Silver – Your God

“There’s a healthy dose of existential dread sure, but there’s also enough garage rock crunch for it to feel rousing too. An anthem for the masses forced to drag themselves out of bed every morning to keep on keeping on.” So we wrote of Tory Silver‘s ‘Microwave’ back in March, a single from their new album In Through the Front with Lasers forthcoming via Michi Tapes. A fitting introduction to an album which deals with, as per the artist, “chronic pain, losing a friend to a cult (at least I think?), jealousy, overthinking death and the jobs that make everything worse. The stress that compounds daily. The realization that the world doesn’t stop being painful just because you need it to.” Digging further into this headspace, Tory Silver’s latest single ‘Your God’ sets an exploration of friendship (or rather, the lack thereof) and religious bigotry to an upbeat, almost carefree sound. How you interpret this style is up to you, and both have thematic resonance: A Trojan horse where difficult subjects are broached under the guise of having fun? Or an attempt to sand some of the sharp edges from these difficult subjects so it is possible to talk about them at all?

I thought we’d always be friends
And where’s the compassion
From a God who is love
I don’t need to compare your God to mine, but mine never judged me at all

Watch the video below, edited ‪quiet sports‬:

In Through the Front with Lasers will be released on the 29th May via Michi Tapes and you can pre-order it now.

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Latest single ‘Shadow of Lately’ is a good example, a track that ruminates on the sense of restlessness that creeps in with the repetitions of life and home. The song finds Valazza still in Portland during a period of self-imposed isolation. “Much of my last year living in Portland was spent walking through neighborhoods and keeping to myself,” she explains. “After going through a difficult breakup from a five year relationship, I found it hard to go out and be social. Keeping up with people became harder and I slowly found myself alone in my basement apartment, fearing the outside world, especially during the darker months of winter.”

If you are unfamiliar with the music of Kassi Valazza, we have previously described it as “bear[ing] all the hallmarks of the best retro tracks while refusing to fall for nostalgic imitation,” drawing on a rich lineage of folk and country songwriters while keeping things fresh. ‘Shadow of Lately’ is no exception, golden-hued and breezy despite the pangs of anxiety that lick at its edges. Opening with gentle acoustic guitar and Valazza’s distinctively timeless vocals, it soon blossoms into a mid-tempo country song complete with electric guitar and pedal steel.

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The resulting songs felt rhythmic and vital, with more melody and soaring chorus than I’ve explored in the past. There was no way and no means to gather a full band, and I brought the songs to Shane’s doorstep knowing and fully trusting the skill and exuberance of his creative imagination. Shane stripped everything down to the studs and we rebuilt it together, just the two of us for a month in his garage studio, Shane dreaming up each sonic layer while I chased the lyrics to one last double chorus.”

Recent single ‘Disposable Camera’ introduced what to expect from the record. It’s a song every bit as finely crafted as anything on Outsider, displaying Anna Tivel’s signature talent to ride the eddies and rapids of a sentence to charge her lines with tangible life. “Nobody tells it like it is / they say don’t rock the boat and shut up kid / but that big black train is rolling,” she sings, words gathering momentum like an engine of their own, “and that deep down scream is growing / a hurricane come howling / a shot heard from the mountain / a blessing and a burden / i swear this will be worth it.” The song is one “for the everything of it all,” as Tivel puts it. “For the wild science fiction of coming into the world. For the way it will break your heart. For the way it will make it race.” Watch the video filmed and produced by Kale Chesney below:

taking a picture to pass the time
a disposable camera and sore eyes
you’ll be leaning your head in the half light
what a feeling to be alive

Coming just before ‘Disposable Camera’ on the tracklisting, latest single ‘Desperation’ can be viewed as a kind of prequel to its tenacious energy. The despair at ground zero, where the only way to process the sense of injustice is a mental escape.  “Close your eyes and go somewhere, the windy coast, the forest floor / an airplane, another world, a dream.” But as the song progresses it lifts itself, the sound of a beaten body rising from the canvas again, as if the mere spark of imagination was enough to convince it to give life another shot. “Future vision is forever married to imagination,” as Tivel puts it. “This is a song about being born into a harsh reality, about struggling to imagine something better than you’ve seen. Poverty, inequality, disenfranchisement—all these dark systems that devalue human capacity, crush human spirit and soul. To be born in that darkness, to see it mirrored all around you in the lives of everyone you love, is to read an unjust story about yourself that takes herculean strength to change.”

Living Thing will be released on the 31st May via Fluff and Gravy Records and you can pre-order it now from the Anna Tivel Bandcamp page.

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