Back in March we introduced the self-titled debut EP from beaming, the new project of Derek Ted and Braden Lawrence, sharing single ‘slow sinkin’. “With Field Medic adding guest vocals, the track possesses all of the earnestness fans of Ted and Lawrence’s solo work will know well,” we wrote, “the bright rhythm and heartfelt tone the sonic equivalent of shaking clarity into a clouded mind.” With the EP out now via Rose Garden, beaming have unveiled new single ‘4U’. “This song is about falling in love and needing to confess how you feel,” Ted explains. “We wanted it to live in a space between glitchy digital sounds and acoustic moments. The chorus is meant to feel like an avalanche of relief—like everything just opens up once you finally say what’s been on your mind.” Watch the video directed by Olivia Alonso Gough and edited along with Braden Lawrence below:

Beaming EP is out now via Rose Garden and you can buy it now.

Don’t Worry – This Time

We’ve been building up to the release of Don’t Worry‘s new album Idealism in recent months, sharing a number of singles which suggest the record will find the Essex punks exploring new sonic ground while furthering their signature blend of sincerity and playfulness. Taking inspiration of the 90s/00s alt golden age, latest single ‘This Time’ sees the outfit reach towards the likes of Smashing Pumpkins in its sense of scale and weight. The result is as cathartic as anything in the Don’t Worry catalogue to date. “‘This Time’ is a song about learning from bad experiences and making sure you don’t make the same mistakes again,” explains songwriter Ronan Van Kehoe. “It’s about growing as a person and coming out of a rough period into a better time.”

DUG – Livelong Day

Having signed to legendary Irish label Claddagh Records, folk duo DUG have shared a new single ‘Livelong Day’ in preparation for their much anticipated debut full-length. Comprised of Jonny Pickett and Lorkin O’Reilly, the project has quickly risen to prominence in the contemporary folk scene, seeing them earn two Grammy nominations and support slots for the likes of Willie Carlisle and Iron & Wine. Though the new track offers a glimpse at a so far unseen darker dimension of DUG, it is easy to see why they have earned such acclaim. A reimagining of the old folk tale ‘The Legend of Knockgrafton’, the song finds its protagonist sobering up amid a drunken dance in a faerie ring. And while the tone might be slightly heavier than previous tracks, it is one nevertheless leavened by its playful spirit.

‘Livelong Day’ is out now via Claddagh Records.

Kaycie Satterfield – ford falcon

Following on from 2024 album Rosie, a release with Earth Libraries we described as “a record which sets out to explore large themes through a personal lens,” Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Kaycie Satterfield is back with brand new single, ‘ford falcon’. A song full of attitude and honest truths which faces down the expectations placed upon women with a mix of sardonic humour and steely defiance. “I’m not your fucking mother,” as Satterfield says in the opening lines. “I can’t come tuck you in.” She’s not your daughter either, nor your lover, just a woman in the same room. And she’s here to make sure you realise the fact, even if it is the last thing you do.

kissing other ppl – Ashes of American Flags

Last month we introduced the self-titled covers record from kissing other ppl, the new project that brings together folk duo Viv & Riley and singer songwriter Rachel Baiman. The lead single was a take on Dr Dog’s ‘Where’d all The Time Go’, adding a timeless folk style to the original, and now the trio are back with their version of Wilco classic ‘Ashes of American Flags’. It’s illustrative of the outfit’s experimental sense of collaboration, as Viv jumps behind the drum kit to play a “no holds barred snare smash,” while Riley adds distorted fiddle and Baiman gives her all with the vocals. Altogether, it’s a worthy homage to the original, which is no mean feat. “Growing up in Chicago, Wilco were royalty,” Baiman describes of the source material. “The line at the end about fallen leaves in shopping bags brings up such strong childhood imagery for me.”

kissing other ppl is available now from Bandcamp.

Old Man of the Woods – Meditation

“With a languorous, enveloping sound, again the mood is undeniably ghostly, though its eeriness carries not so much fright or unease as a sense of possibility,” we wrote of ‘Amber‘ from the new Old Man of the Woods full-length Tendrils last month. “As though in connecting the long-dawned past with a gesture towards the future, [Miranda] Elliott invites us to consider just how interconnected the stages of so-called linear time might be.” With the album now out, Elliott has shared latest single ‘Meditation’, a self-described  “breathy, minimal ritual” which performs its own form of transubstantiation, taking a desire which might otherwise appear absurd and changing it into something charged and devotional. Built on strangely hypnotic percussion that wobbles and clatters throughout, it’s almost a dance track, but Elliott’s vocals remain ethereal as ever, drifting in and out like curtains of mist.

Rebecca Schiffman – Bubble of Love

“The record sees the LA-based songwriter grapple with what it means to live a moral life within a society that can appear hellbent on compromising our personal values.” So we wrote of Before the Future, the new album from Rebecca Schiffman coming later this summer with Lost Sound Tapes. No stone is left unturned across the songs, with everything from motherhood, grief, family vacations and the ethics of the pet-owner relationship explored. Latest single ‘Bubble of Love’ employs a peppy rhythm and sweet vocals to turn its attention to the familiar arc of romantic love. The song “traces a relationship from the honeymoon phase when you could spend all your time with someone and anything is possible,” as Schiffman explains, “to a time when it feels claustrophobic and you want to pop the bubble.”

Watch the video by Renata Zeiguer below:

Before the Future will be released on the 25th July, including a cassette via Lost Sound Tapes, and you can pre-order it now.

Snake Orange Cake – Stitch

When covering the work of Berlin-based artist Julia Carlsson in the past, it has been for leoblu, a project we’ve described as making “ambiguous and atmospheric music which situates intimate emotion against the more mysterious forces at work around us.” But now Carlsson has branched out towards a new sound, and has thus adopted a brand new moniker. Snake Orange Cake sees Carlsson elevate her experimental electronic style with spoken-word poetry and extra narrative thrust. The first tase of a forthcoming EP, new single ‘Stitch’ offers a glimpse of the invention and playfulness which underpins the new project, weaving a detailed, rhythmic sound over which Carlsson’s spoken vocals play with disarming closeness.

Star Moles – Fate

“The oeuvre is a lesson in the potential of bedroom pop, refusing to settle for genre conventions to push the style in new directions.” So we wrote of the work of Emily Moales’s Star Moles back in May, describing how single ‘Key Change’ embodied Moales’s “growing boredom with idealised romance of polished pop, choosing to instead get its hands dirty and dig into the messy guts of what love really means.” Now Star Moles has announced full-length album Snack Monster, coming later this summer on Earth Libraries, and opener and latest single ‘Fate’ serves as a mission statement for the release. A song which looks to address contemporary neuroses via traditional styles, looking to break free from the strictures of established narratives and reclaim agency from the impression of predetermination.

Xol Meissner – Hunt [97]

The recording alias of Swiss-born, NYC-based composer Mauro Hertig, Xol Meissner pairs baritone vocals with a singular hammered lap-steel style to create soundscapes as evocative as they are otherworldly. New album Excess of Loss might be Hertig’s debut under this moniker but arrives fully formed, each track functioning with the eerie, unnerving logic of a dream. Take single ‘Hunt [97]’, a song sedate in rhythm, drifting within its own textured arrangement, yet shot through with imagery both violent and strange. “Open field vision / we access the graveyards / ancestors aim / at the holes in our hearts,” he sings in one such typically striking verse. Or elsewhere: “The bodies pile up / to a sculpture of justice / fathers are holding / the hands of their sons.” The result is mythic. Oddly timeless yet sonically unique. Weighted with a meaning slightly beyond our understanding. Something which lingers at the edges of our reality. Alluring, terrifying and sublime.

Watch the video by Camille Henrot (director), Ben Scofield (director of photography and colourist), Mauro Hertig, Camille Henrot (editors), Marie-Christine Statz and Gauchère (costume) below:

Excess of Loss is out now and available from Bandcamp.

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Folks songs which “explore ideas of home, family and memory within the context of the queer experience” was how we described the work of Bad Posture Club back in 2022 when writing about single ‘My Good My Sweet My Bright‘. Consisting of duo Maren Day and Morgan Kavanagh, the project uses a timeless, sincere folk style to bring such themes to life, and new album Affinity, coming this summer on Ghost Mountain Records, looks to develop this further. The lead single and title track offers the first glimpse into the release. A considered, spare song which nevertheless glows with a modest yet persistent warmth. “No such thing as an excess of gentleness,” goes the instructive opening line, “at least not for me.”

Bonniesongs – Olive Oil

“Olive oil is good for me / Nourishing deep within my skin / Fills me up with vitamins / Makes me feel so comforted.” So sings Irish-born, Australian-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Bonnie Stewart, AKA Bonniesongs, on new single ‘Olive Oil’. The latest single from Strangest Feeling, the new Bonniesongs LP forthcoming this summer on Impressed Recordings, the song introduces the record’s sense of nuance. It blends warm dream pop with something weightier and strange, all delivered with a playful spirit. “I wrote ‘Olive Oil’ while visiting Wellington, New Zealand. I had recently started a game with friends where we list our top five favourite things,” Stewart explains. “Olive oil, ocean, sunshine are some things that bring me joy. I wanted a happy, light-hearted song.” And while light-hearted the song might be, it is anything but twee, the Bonniesongs sound far more ambitious and conflicting to fall into such a trap.

Watch the video directed by Shadow Cut Films and Stewart herself below:

Strangest Feeling will be released on the 25th July via Impressed Recordings.

Chrome Harvest – Hex Whoever

Originating as project between Chris Jerwin (guitar, piano, vocals) and Ben Wellman (banjo, guitar, vocals) and later expanding into more of a collective, Chrome Harvest is a Lethbridge, Alberta-based band which sits at the experimental end of indie rock. After winning praise with 2023 debut Sun-Circuit, Chrome Harvest have recently released a self-titled follow-up, Evan Brownlee (drums, percussion), Keilan Hakstol (drums, percussion), Connor McGinnis (bass), Ray Wong (saxophone) and Cori Campbell (saxophone) joining the fold to push the project further. Standout ‘Hex Whoever’ hints at both the richness of the resulting sound and its emotional resonance, unfurling as a raggedy, quivering folk song before blooming into something lush and affirming and packed with raw energy.

Far Caspian – An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry

The recording project of Irish songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Joel Johnston, Far Caspian has established itself through a number of releases since its inception in 2020. Namely debut full-length Ways To Get Out and follow-up The Last Remaining Light, which employed everything from indie folk to late 90s/early 00s alt sensibilities to offer a distinctively personal sound, full of unguarded sincerity and searching emotion. Set for release via Johnston’s own Tiny Library Records this July, new album Autofiction is both a continuation of this process and something of a soft reset. An opportunity to return the Far Caspian project back to the simple joy of making music after years of challenges both artistic and personal. Latest single ‘An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry’ is an indication the record lives up to its title, finding Johnston as his most diaristic as he details an experience driving all night across Ireland after a failed attempt to climb Carrauntoohil in 2014.

Watch the video directed by Johnston himself below:

Autofiction is out on the 25th July via Tiny Library Records and you can pre-order it now.

kissing other ppl – Where’d All The Time Go

Something of a folk supergroup, kissing other ppl sees indie folk duo Viv & Riley join forces with songwriter Rachel Baiman, and the project’s self-titled debut introduces what to expect. Released via Peacedale Records, the album is a collection of covers taken from across a wide spectrum of acts—Lennon Stella, Songs: Ohia, Wilco and Joan Armatrading to name a few. “It just kind of happened that we were talking about the same music. It felt like fun coincidences, these artists across a lot of different realms and times,” Riley explains. “So it just then seemed like we could make a record with these great songs, us reinterpreting them, have them all feel of a piece, even though the songs are from different eras and the original recordings are very different.” Listen to single ‘Where’d All The Time Go’ now, with kissing other ppl taking Dr Dog’s original and adding a timeless folk style.

Merzbow – Sedonis A

Renowned avant garde sound artist Masami Akita has been recording under the moniker Merzbow for going on half a century. The Tokyo-based musician has built a vast, varied oeuvre which reimagines the possibilities of noise. But while Akita’s back catalogue is already far deeper than most artists could even dream, he continues to create and release new music, and new album Sedonis shows there is no let up in his ambition. Merzbow’s debut with Chicago imprint Signal Noise, the record uses a computer, modular electronics and homemade instruments to create a sound inspired by the kaiju Barunga from sixties TV series Ultra Q. Single ‘Sedonis A’ is suggestive of the scale of the release, a cut as harsh and sublime as any giant creature hell-bent on making Tokyo its own.

Rebecca Schiffman – Little Mr. Civility

“Is pure feeling possible? Can we ever extricate ourselves from culture or do we need it to even think, let alone communicate with others?” So asks the album notes of Rebecca Schiffman‘s fourth full-length Before the Future, coming this summer via Lost Sound Tapes. The record sees the LA-based songwriter grapple with what it means to live a moral life within a society that can appear hellbent on compromising our personal values. Everything from grief, family vacations and the ethics of the pet-owner relationship are explored, but lead single ‘Little Mr. Civility’ turns its attention to the experience of raising a young child. Namely the inevitable influence a parent has in shaping their nascent understanding of the world and its expectations. “The song expresses misgivings about the large responsibility one bears bringing someone into the world,” as Schiffman explains, “and resignation at having to try to shape them so they exist in society.”

Watch the video directed by Faryl Amadeus below:

Before the Future will be released on the 25th July, including a cassette via Lost Sound Tapes, and you can pre-order it now.

Tuxis Giant – Last Laugh

We’ve followed Tuxis Giant for a number of years now, most recently in 2023 with the release of full-length The Old House. “The songs find Tuxis Giant offering a sonic representation of solitude in all of its nuance,” as we wrote. “The inherent safety in being removed from the wider world is challenged by an inevitable anxiety and loneliness, [resulting in] a strangely nostalgic alienation.” Now Matt O’Connor and co. are back with You Won’t Remember This, a brand new LP released via their own label Worry Bead Records (who recently curated True Names, a great compilation for the Trans Youth Emergency Project). Lead single ‘Last Laugh’ provides the first look inside, a short yet no less evocative song about the dangerous allure of self-medication, delivered with Tuxis Giant’s trademark mix of intimacy and heft.

Winter – Just Like A Flower

Recording under the moniker Winter, Brazil-born, New York-based Samira Winter combines gauzy shoegaze and summery pop sensibilities to weave a sound as lush as it is energetic. Following the success of 2022 debut Some Kind Of Blue, Winter returns this summer with new album Adult Romantix on Winspear, and lead single ‘Just Like A Flower’ introduces both the style and theme of the record. The song’s reflective, often melancholic tone is buoyed by an insistent momentum, with Winter contemplating a move from LA to NYC amid the wider progression of young adult life. There are loves and inevitable losses along the way, but the forward motion can never quite be halted.

Watch the video directed by Sammy Lamb and Samira Winter below:

Adult Romantix will be released on the 22nd August via Winspear and you can pre-order it now.

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