Alongside core members Berman (vocals), Ricky Lorenzo (guitar), Dana Guth (bass) and DJ Nelson (drums/samples), the new album welcomes Daniel Juergens into the Little Oso fold, bolstering the sound with synthesizer and samplers, as well as viola and violin by Elisabeth Fuchsia. Juergens also recorded and mixed the release, with Andy Tyler Clarke (Spirit of the Beehive, Cloud Nothings) mastering, and the result is by far the richest and most complex the project has sounded to date. But more than a mere stylistic evolution for the band, this development is inherently tied to their thematic interests too. We live in a world where the line between physical and digital existence is porous, machine learning is thrust upon us, and perhaps most strikingly, we’re surrounded by things we could never truly make our own no matter what the tech overlords might claim. Such heady themes require a careful balance of intricacy, fury and good old fashioned human feeling, and Little Oso 2.0 appear ready to meet the moment.

I don’t need much, I just need this
(A place I’ve never been)
Will someone please give me the cheat code to
(A place I’ve never been)

The song comes complete with a video to further the themes, directed and written by Jeannette Berman with director of photography Dean Luis Chuquimongo and editor/colorist Ricardo Lorenzo, and featuring 3D Animator by Haven.

Simulation Games will be released via Repeating Cloud and Safe Suburban Home in late spring/early summer 2027. The single is available now from Bandcamp.

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Founded in 2018 by musician Adam Kinner and artistic director/writer Jacob Wren, and now expanded into a wider ensemble, The Air Contains Honey is a Montreal-based project which crosses artistic boundaries to meld the musical and the literary in a genuinely innovative way. After gradually evolving over the years, the project is now preparing to release their first full-length, The Air Contains Honey Sings Quotes, via Quindi Records, and the album quite literally lives up to its name. With arrangements orchestrated to be performed by nineteen musicians, the record sees the group sing quotes from across literature and theory (lines from Agnes Martin, Diane di Prima and Chris Kraus feature, to name just a few), resulting in a novel form which sits between indie pop, jazz and something like musical theatre. Lead track ‘Sexuality’ is the perfect example of the release’s ambition and invention. A number built around words from Kathy Acker’s Great Expectations which encapsulates not only the artistic vision of the record but also the welcoming communal spirit with which it is brought to life.

Damn Shame – Making Habits

“Every year that passes / taking stock with where we’re at and / Making plans to break through and make change.” So sings Portland, Maine multi-instrumentalist Robb Paniconi, AKA Damn Shame, on the closing track of new EP For Lack of Trying, out now via Repeating Cloud. As the title might suggest, the release is crafted around this sense of striving, be it towards a better future or healthier version of oneself. But it is forever held back by some self-defeating dimension, or else the hectic distraction that is the contemporary world. ‘Making Habits’ is a summation of the project musically as well as thematically, Paniconi bolstering his songwriting with an array of experimental flourishes, from found sounds and field recording to synths and tape loops. The result is all the more sincere and sympathetic as a result, positioning him alongside the likes of Ben Cooper’s Radical Face or even the slower side of Trace Mountains.

Daniel Glenn Padgett – Geraldine x Rocky Top!

Blurring the lines between DIY experimentalism and classical composition, the work of US-born, UK-based artist Daniel Glenn Padgett draws utilises both analogue and electronic modes to collapse the distance between the past and the present, bringing forward that which seemed lost or else opening up a nostalgic path backwards. Latest single ‘Geraldine x Rocky Top!’ is the ideal introduction to this style, a glitchy dance-based number which opens with a voice note from Parisian photographer Geraldine Morat and grows to incorporate a samples from the anthology of American folk music. On the surface, the result is an infectious slice of pop which hums with a bright energy for its brisk two minute run-time, though delve slightly deeper and the true nature of DGP’s work reveals itself. A cross-pollination between the contemporary and the traditional which charges both which newfound energy, as though commingling these ostensibly mismatched styles allows a kind of mutual invigoration.

David James Allen – So Much Pain

Prince Edward County, Ontario-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David James Allen has shared a number of singles from his new full-length Jubilation Potpurri in recent months, and now the album is finally out via Littleknown Records, he is sharing one more. Following on from the likes of ‘By Your Side‘ (“an ode to the safe harbour of a significant other, where calm might be found no matter how stormy the outside world might prove”) and ‘Dukes Up (Since You’ve Been Gone)‘ (“a vow to confront life’s struggles head on, standing on your own two feet, fists raised and ready for anything”), latest track ‘So Much Pain’ explores far more uncertain, vulnerable headspace, though you wouldn’t know it from the sound itself. “There’s so much pain / Seen so much pain / It hurts to be alone / Feeling scared on my own,” Allen sings in the opening verse, though the arrangement is full of soulful swagger and confidence, redirecting the needy longing of the lyrics into something altogether different. As though, in voicing such vulnerabilities, Allen isn’t so much underscoring his fear of solitude as championing its opposite, connecting to the universal human experience of loneliness to better communicate the power of connection.

The French – Maybe Tomorrow

The ongoing mission to make Darren Hayman‘s vast back catalogue available online shows no sign going down (read more on the project here), with Audio Antihero now unearthing some deep cuts Hayman’s bands Hefner and The French recorded during sessions with the legendary John Peel. “When Hefner became a ‘Peel band’ and recorded their first session, I felt that a true life goal had been achieved,” he explains. “Many bands, much more revered and successful than myself, would have wished they’d recorded a Peel session. I could die a little happier.” Invited to a session with no record to promote, Hefner instead recorded a collection of gospel singles, with Peel delighted by a band using his sessions to push themselves and break new ground. Hence, when it came time for The French to visit a year later, they followed suit with another experimental idea, this time recording their own versions of four television theme songs, released here as TV Themes. Alongside ‘Crockett’s Theme’ and ‘Theme from Hill Street Blues’ and ‘Big John, Little John’, Hayman and John Morrison also recorded ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, their take on the theme from The Littlest Hobo which shows both the nostalgic spirit of the project and the invention with which they brought it to life.

henry o henry – There

Back in August we previewed henry o henry‘s new full-length Apocrypha, describing how the Dublin-born, US-based songwriter uses “the experience of being an immigrant in America for over thirty years to observe the country from the novel perspective of an adopted son.” After lead single ‘The Fool‘ (“worn and wistful and weathered but with a glint in its eye, moving with a sincerity and easy grace that comes with experience”) came ‘The Parade’, “an example of the careful patience which marks so much of the album,” as we put it, “understated yet strangely hypnotic, as though its mellow rhythms slowly envelop the listener and hold them within their world.” With the record now out via Western Vinyl, henry o henry has shared final single ‘There’. An album highlight which serves as a metacommentary on the creative process which brought it to life, specifically how making art can take personal feelings and transform them into something greater and long-lasting. “It feels like a triumph over something,” as henry o henry says, “even if you’re a bit embarrassed by some of the sentiment.”

Jonathan Something – The Garden

“A prime example of how One More Lonesome Cowboy Song lives up to its name, the track manages to evoke both the intimacy of personal experience and something far larger, bringing in the melancholy of the archetypal wanderer in search of meaning.” So we wrote of ‘Gasoline‘, a single from Jonathan Something‘s new album forthcoming via High Shelter, back in August, a song typical of a record all about yearning for something more. The record’s release is now less than a month away and Jonathan Searles has shared new track ‘The Garden’ to pave the way. “‘The Garden’ is a collection of epiphanies I had regarding self growth while wrestling demons.” as Searles explains. “I kept the conclusions and deeper meaning behind each verse as cryptic as possible to avoid preaching while still resonating as widely as possible. The goal was to offer my hand to hold for those who needed it and a high five for those who just wanna vibe.”

One More Lonesome Cowboy Song will be released on the 16th October via High Shelter.

Josephine Illingworth – Who Burnt The Mountain

After the release of EP Bright Things I Found In The Dark earlier this year, London-based songwriter Josephine Illingworth returns with new single ‘Who Burnt The Mountain’ in partnership with Sounds Right, a global music initiative that allows nature to generate royalties on streaming platforms. Released as part of the Sounds Right and EarthPercent Climate Week NYC releases, the track confronts the urgent ecological crisis by drawing on the sounds of nature itself, though these gradually distort and denature as the song unfolds to mirror the ongoing loss of habitat and biodiversity. “‘Who Burnt The Mountain’ is a rallying call against the desecration of our wild spaces, and an expression of grief that I, as a young woman, feel in seeing the wilderness that has been a space of sanctuary and identity for me being literally burnt out of existence, often thanks to the decisions of distant male politicians,” Illingworth explains. “The song is about wildfire and deforestation, and the flattening and privatisation of these wildernesses in the UK. I gradually distorted the bird field recordings as the song goes on, ending so that they sound almost like human screams.” Watch the video filmed by Reuben Denison below:

Who Burnt The Mountain is out now via Sounds Right, with royalties donated to frontline conservation projects around the world.

MANAS (Tashi Dorji & Thom Nguyen) – 100 sunset

The project of Asheville-based duo Tashi Dorji and Thom Nguyen, MANAS gather threads of free jazz, noise, punk and experimental music into propulsive improvised tracks that pay attention to small details while possessing a physical intensity and unpredictability. “Improvised music, this music-making in the immediacy and now, in the moment, feels way more radical than anything I’ve ever done,” says Dorji. “Making improvised music and creating radical music with the intention of opening people’s ears.” October sees the release of a new MANAS record, The most yielding thing in the world will overcome the most rigid, via American Dreams. The album came into being as the score to 100 Sunset, the debut feature film from director Kunsang Kyirong. Our first glimpse is the opening track, which is named for the film, a 13-minute exercise in restrained forward motion that builds toward a blown-out crescendo, the pair merging guitar and percussion into a single, unified instrument of urgent power.

Melissa Weikart – L’amour se construit

Back in July, we featured ‘Crash’, a single by French-American songwriter Melissa Weikart. Calling it “lush, immersive and slightly warped at the edges,” it was the perfect introduction to an artist who exists “between the poles of experimental improvisation and crowd-pleasing pop.” Weikart has just announced that the song was our first taste of a new album, titled Contact, which will be released via Midnight Special Records at the end of next month. To coincide with the album announcement, Weikart has unveiled a second single titled ‘L’amour se construit’. Translating into English as “love is built”, it’s what Weikart describes as “a plea to not only accept but welcome the inevitable messiness that accompanies our emotions around love.” Musically this translates into something as strange as it is sophisticated, drawing on foundations of both jazz and smooth seventies folk and bending them into dreamlike shapes with a psychedelic flourish. Watch the suitably surreal Ruby Cicero-directed video below:

Contact will be released via Midnight Special Records on 23^rd October. Pre-order ti now from the Melissa Weikart Bandcamp page.

summersets – Forgetting For The Better

“Drunk conversations, uncomfortable truths / Daily routines, bills that are due,” so opens ‘Forgetting For the Better’, one of the standout tracks on Pine Trees In A Perfect Row, the new record from Kalle Mattson and Andrew Sowka’s summersets project. The line is indicative of an album that is very much grounded in reality, exploring the contemporary moment without sanding away its uncomfortable edges. The pair of childhood friends reunited in their northern Ontario hometown of Sault Ste. Marie after being priced out of the big cities, and this frankness and economic realism is littered across the record. Mattson calls it “a (complicated) love letter to Northern Ontario and small town Canadian identity and experience… with the intention of speaking to a (hopefully) universal sentiment: that you never really leave your home.” As that quote might suggest, there is a glimmer of magic braided throughout too. ‘Forgetting For the Better’ is the perfect example, a gentle folk song that explores life’s ups and downs (from car crashes and playoff defeats to “the words that I said”) with a combination of wistful regret and mellow warmth.

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red birds on a branch furthers this style. Each track is a snapshot, or rather a specific scene suspended. A moment or memory frozen in time yet still possessing all its dimensions. The listener is invited to step inside these tableaus, not only to explore the fine details therein, but also imagine the narratives which have led to that picture, as well as that which is yet to unfold.

The entire effect is captured within the very first moments of opening track ‘Spiral Kitchen Linoleum’. “Unopened mail by the microwave,” Rogers sings over a warm and wistful arrangement. “She sensed there’s something you wanted to say / All the words just looking for the right ones / spiral kitchen linoleum.” The precision of the imagery does more than conjure a scene. It evokes memory, yearning, fears and dreams, as though life itself is distilled in the smallest of things. Unopened mail, the hum of a refrigerator (it is fitting the next track on the record, ‘Nighthawks’, evokes Hopper). These details point to the past, yes, but also the future, its characters heading towards a difficult confrontation, the kitchen seemingly laying in wait.

The result is something of a new era for Tremolo Fields. John Ross of Wild Pink produced the release and his fingerprints are noticeable. Where still as can be had a certain off-kilter charm, red birds on a branch is richer, deeper, more complete. The rough edges of its predecessor not so much smoothed over but layered into a more cohesive whole. Be it the nocturnal glow of the aforementioned ‘Nighthawks’, where a loneliness seems to bloom into shimmering possibility, or the altogether sleeker ‘Rooftops’ and its brooding allure. Ross helps breathe an effortless complexity through the arrangements which matches the project’s overall spirit. The beguiling attraction of an image. The surface and its implicit depth.

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This attitude is the cornerstone to Feels Like Hell, the record representing a rejection not only of the myriads of forces which make our current culture so bleak and painful, but the all-too-common apathy with which so many react to such conditions. A collection of spiky, confrontational and cathartic songs, notably different from the tone of the Portland, Maine outfit’s previous LP Quitter. “Every soul-destroying facet of our present moment is used as fuel on the fire,” as we continued in our preview. “The hegemony of global capitalism, complete with its mass surveillance, environmental destruction and rampant inequality, is enough to drive anyone to despair, but Weakened Friends are determined to deny it that one last victory. Better to scream, yell, bring the whole thing crumbling down with us.”

With the release of the album only weeks away, Weakened Friends have returned with latest single, ‘Nosebleed’. A song driven by grungy guitars and punchy energy, not to mention the distinctive vocals of lead Sonia Sturino which feel like they are always wavering on the verge of a scream frustration or desperation. “The song came out of a conversation with a friend who was talking about their breakup,” the band explain. “On the surface, they sounded like they were over it, but underneath it all, you could feel the weight of what they weren’t saying. It’s a feeling most of us know too well: pretending we’ve moved on while still being haunted by the past.” And while the track functions perfectly on this level, it is impossible not to push the ideas further when viewed in the context of the rest of the record. How better to speak to the present moment than to conjure a picture of soul despairing but pretending otherwise?

Watch the video by director and cinematographer Tadin Brego below:

Feels Like Hell will be released on the 9th October via Don Giovanni and you can pre-order it now.

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Like all of Greg Jamie’s work, the album is a singular vision, yet that is not to say he did not have help bringing it to life. Guests across the record include Robert Pycior (violin), Elisabeth Fuchsia (viola), Mark Fede (drums), Josephine Foster (backing vocals), Keith J Nelson (clarinet, bass clarinet), Tom Kovacevic (ney flute), Michael Cormier O’Leary (drums) and David Rogers-Berry (additional percussion), not to mention long-time collaborator Colby Nathan (bass, synth, guitar, vocals, and “de facto interpreter of ideas”). Each musician helps Jamie venture out into a world of his own making, slipping between styles and genres with the seamless yet striking logic of a dream. “The strength of Across a Violet Pasture is its intuitive rawness,” as Claire Cronin writes in the album notes:

It’s art made at home; the product of a deep inner life and a personal mythology. And like Greg Jamie’s uncanny watercolor paintings, this record juxtaposes muted, dark backgrounds with shocks of vibrant color. The “violet pasture” of the title evokes a mix of passionate red and cool, sorrowful blue. The resulting purple is mystical and a little extravagant. It’s a color hardly found in nature. And when it is, like the violet flower, it survives only in dappled forest shade. Admired by hermits, fauns, and idealistic weirdos, there’s a secretive, melancholy, and ephemeral beauty to this work.

The true pleasure of such an album is found only in setting off for a journey of your own, immersing yourself in the vast, intricate landscapes, pondering the ambiguous imagery and existential musings over repeated listens. But for now ‘I’d Get Away’ stands as the first leg of the trip. A taste of the wider experience in miniature. The song a small world of its own. “Making [‘I’d Get Away’] felt like a breakthrough for the whole record for me, sonically,” Jamie explains. “It’s sort of a surf ballad about letting go of what you can’t change, and moving on from what is final. Transcendence and fog. Clarity after death. Blow up nostalgia and just be. Check out that slide and drift away.”

Photo by Paige Jamie Bedard, album artwork by Greg Jamie with design and layout by Gordon Ashworth

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With the album now only a month away, Snake Lips have returned with latest single, ‘East Coast’. The opening track on the record which sees Mitchell and co. waste no time in getting the ball rolling, barrelling forward with a mix of sunburned energy and fatalistic playfulness fans of King of the Beach-era Wavves will recognise. But, as the title of the song is keen to remind us, Snake Lips do not hail from the sunny climes of California. This is surf rock with the added frustration of being isolated from the culture it pines for. “I’m the only one / The waves aren’t the same on the East coast,” as Mitchell sings in the opening lines. “Surrounded by horrible people / And I just wanna die / No one’s having fun / I can’t catch a wave on the East coast / Surrounded by hideous people / And I don’t feel alright.” There might be no means of fixing this predicament, but the song can remedy one part of it. No-one is having fun on the East coast, unless, that is, they are listening to Snake Lips.

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The style coalesced for most recent full-length, 2023’s Breaking and Mending, an exploration of chronic illness which used songs as a mechanism to preserve moments of peace and resolution within a wider experience of suffering. To offer a more hopeful picture of living with pain without omitting the inevitable frustrations and tensions which accompany it. “Breaking and Mending emerges from this understanding,” as we put it, “underlining its importance and imperfection in order to (re)construct an authentic sense of self within an otherwise alienating period.”

Now Lisa/Liza is back with Ocean Path, a brand new EP released on cassette with Orindal Records which sees her reengaging with some of her oldest material. “Ocean Path is a look back at the first songs I made in my teens and early twenties, including some of my very first recordings,” as Victoria explains. “For me, it is a letter from my younger self.” But more than an exercise in nostalgia, the release becomes a meditation on memory and personal change. The ways in which we shift over time, the ways we stay the same, and how we are constantly settling into who we are. “I wanted to be a musician, I wanted to share my inner world with others. And now I see where that lead me and feel gratitude for the path set out before me,” Victoria continues:

Each song holds time between it, at least a year between each, love and memory, and different worlds of view, threads between them. As much as I hope this cassette shares a small piece of me with others, it is also a little sign on the road that says “keep going.” Knowing all there is that encourages the path to roll forward, friends, different lives, and loves met along the way, encouraging me to hit record and to sing a little louder. It feels hopeful and is a feeling of being held.

Opening track and lead single ‘Summer’s Dust’ introduces the release’s homespun tone, unfolding with the slow patience and compassion which would come to mark the project. “Corn crops / Summer’s dust / Fall into your backyard tune,” Victoria sings with a wistfulness only deepened in the new context of the record. “Love for you, becoming / Love for yourself is finally running through you.” What results is the sense of witnessing Lisa/Liza form in real time, this early song already offering that magic, almost contradictory blend of the past, present and future Victoria has since mastered, able to offer sanctuary from the world without ever sacrificing the hope intrinsic to the act of looking forward.

Watch the video with photography by Keith J Nelson below:

Ocean Path will be released on the 27th June via Orindal Records and you can pre-order it now from the Lisa/Liza Bandcamp page.

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Which isn’t to say the entire release is all rose-tinted positivity. Latest single ‘Hive’ might not dial down the intensity of its predecessor, nor the affirming momentum which results, but the subject matter is altogether more downbeat. “I had tickets to see Pile in a city a couple hours from my house on what turned out to be a rainy weeknight, and as the day wore on it became clear I wasn’t going to go,” Richmond explains. “By the time it was too late to change my mind, I’d worked myself into a lousy mood and this was the song that came out of that.”

I got too old to leave the house
I pulled the stuffing from the couch
and there’s a wrong taste in my mouth
well this whole night’s just heading south

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Gathering momentum after a string of appearances at some of the biggest festivals in the UK (Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds among them), songwriter cathy kio has released a brand new single ‘Last Goodbye’ to reinforce her burgeoning reputation. Crafted with a spare acoustic arrangement and kio’s signature heartfelt vocals, the song digs deep into the aftermath of a relationship in all of its tenderness and longing. A track poignant, aching and not entirely without fondness, looking to salvage all the good from the time now gone while recognising the need to walk away.

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

Clutter – Jesus

Consisting of Hilda Ander, Emma French, Ove Jerndal and Ville Scott, Clutter is a new project out of Stockholm who cut their teeth in the underground Swedish scene but now look set to make waves further afield. Their debut 7″ single, Jesus/Holy Brother, out via via PNKSLM Recordings, underscores exactly why the band have risen to prominence so quickly, offering a noughties-inflected shoegaze style that’s able to sound heavy and playful simultaneously. ‘Jesus’ is a great example of the aesthetic, pairing existential lyrics and grungy guitar with an infectious sense of forward motion, showing Clutter’s ability to pack a punch while still having fun.

Watch the video shot and edited by Majken Bergman with animations by Henry Ander below:

Jesus/Holy Brother is out now via PNKSLM Recordings and available from Bandcamp.

The Convenience – I Got Exactly What I Wanted

The Convenience‘s 2021 debut Accelerator introduced a colourful, endlessly inventive brand of funk-inflected pop, but while follow-up Like Cartoon Vampires continues the imaginative style, the sound is very different. Because, following their artistic intuition, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Nick Corson and Duncan Troast have pivoted towards new genres, the album reaching out towards post-punk, noise rock and drone in its search for something different. Single ‘I Got Exactly What I Wanted’ shows the wiry menace of this version of The Convenience, though beneath the shadowy mood lies something just as curiosity and playful in its craft as anything the duo have released to date.

Like Cartoon Vampires is out on the 18th April via Winspear and you can pre-order it now.

country girl – field day

Back in September we wrote about country girl, describing how single ‘i like that’ tapped into a nostalgic vibe to paint a picture of real fondness. “The nineties aesthetic adds a fresh, wide-eyed quality to the sound,” we wrote, “creating an ode to a significant other as voiced from the heady early days.” With debut EP out now via FADER Label, country girl is back with the equally warm and affectionate ‘field day’. Another song which finds itself reflecting on the joys of a rose-tinted past, looking to preserve that sense of possibility and fun in the face of life’s inevitable progression. Watch the video directed and edited by Emma Callahan below:

meet me at the fountain is out now via FADER Label.

Gum Parker – Two Subarus

Gum Parker is a new project out of Portland, Maine who are preparing to release their debut album The Brakes this spring on Repeating Cloud. Playing what they describe as “jangly songs” about “small disappointments and occasional wins,” the outfit draw on the considerable DIY history of its members to create good old-fashioned indie rock. Lead single ‘Two Subarus’ embodies this spirit both in style and theme, combining unapologetic nostalgic with a sense of momentous immediacy. “This one is thinking back on my first serious band, which would have been in the early 2000s,” songwriter Galen Richmond explains. “Everything was always just teetering on the edge of falling completely apart and it was the most exciting thing ever. It’s easy to be sorta rose-colored thinking back on that time so I’m making fun of myself for it while I totally indulge it.”

Lutalo – I Figured

We featured Lutalo‘s album The Academy several times last year, admiring how the Vermont-based singer-songwriter delved into their past with such intention and fearlessness. Released via Winspear ahead of a headline tour, new single ‘I Figured’ might not have quite made the cut to be included on the record, but it again shows how evocative Lutalo’s blend of rock and folk aesthetics can be. “Heard your train just holler / I just cussed your collar,” goes one of the verses, typifying the smouldering mix of drama and romance across the track. “You say I should come through / I know I shouldn’t want to / I know I shouldn’t but I want // You.”

Watch the video by Noah Lenker below:

‘I Figured’ is out now via Winspear and available from Bandcamp.

Molly Ganley – Who Are You

With debut album Eldest Daughter coming this March, songwriter Molly Ganley has unveiled brand new single, ‘Who Are You’. Another example of her warm, heartfelt brand of folk which celebrates the work previous generations have done to create and preserve a more hospitable world. “It asks the fundamental question: ‘Who are you to say?'”—who gets to make the call that women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate action are unimportant, and that millions will suffer due to lack of legislative protection?” Ganley explains. The result is born of both love and defiance, promising to take up the mantle of our forebears to fight for the future we deserve.

naya mö – outsider

“Draws on the grunge and alt-pop of the nineties and the soaring indie rock of the mid 00s, resulting in something that sparkles with possibility despite being coated in gritty fuzz and shadowy reverb.” That’s what we wrote of naya mö‘s previous single, ‘wanderlust’, back in November, and the latest track from the French artist is no less atmospheric. The second single from a forthcoming EP, ‘outsider’ again taps into a gauzy shoegaze style to create an enveloping sense of loneliness, though is charged with enough energy to face this darkness with a steely defiance. “The EP is about the ghosts that haunt my mind and body. Good and bad, dark and light, love and fear,” naya mö explains of this duality. “Shadows of memories, ideas, regret, people linger in my head. I wrote songs about them and drench them in distortion, reverb and fuzz.”

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

OHYUNG – no good

You might know Lia Ouyang Rusli as the composer behind soundtracks such at that of Julio Torres’s Problemista (A24), but they also produce what is described as “experimental and political” under the moniker OHYUNG. Taken from the upcoming OHYUNG album You Are Always On My Mind, latest single ‘no good’ is every bit as cinematic as any of LOR’s scores, enlisting director and designer Day to create a video capable of furthering the song’s portrayal of a quest of self-actualisation. The album itself uses a vivid, trip-hop-inspired sound to chart the process of gender transition, and ‘no good’ explores the strange dualities which accompany such a process, where the desire to become the person you are supposed to be is matched by no small sense of fear. How do we feel when we achieve the very thing we want the most?

You Are Always On My Mind is out on the 28th March via NNA Tapes and Phantom Limb and you can pre-order it now.

Pit Pony – Vacancy

With new LP Dead Stars due for release next month via Clue Records and EMI North, Newcastle‘s Pit Pony have returned with ‘Vacancy’, a track full of wry humour and cutting energy which sets its sights on the cultivated perfection of social media. “My news feed is full of suggested videos of people telling me my life will be better if I buy some leggings or get the ‘off menu’ Starbucks drink. I love an iced coffee as much as the next person but there’s a whole culture of people driving in nice cars drinking coffee and sitting making videos in carparks that I can’t get my head around,” explains lead Jackie Purver. “I feel like it’s opening a black hole somewhere that we’re all going to be swallowed into—a vacancy—like a Dorian Gray painting on a mass scale. I want to derail it, to take things in a different direction, to make it messy.” The song makes good on this wish with a building momentum, resulting in a chaotic crescendo that punctures the fictitious illusion through sheer disordered passion.

Dead Stars is out on the 7th February via Clue Records and EMI North and you can pre-order it now.

since torino – transatlantic flight song

Sheffield‘s since torino are preparing to release their debut EP in the coming months, and brand new single ‘transatlantic flight song’ serves as the ideal introduction to the band for anyone unfamiliar with their work. Opening with a restrained hush, the song sets out a quiet, reflective mood, combining organ and murmured vocals to create an easy meandering fondness, and gradually develops to push the mood further. First with glitched guitars and eventually sweeps of violin, all working together to create a song which aches with the fondness of nostalgic contemplation.

‘transatlantic flight song’ is out now, and you can find since torino at the usual places.

william h. travis – unfuck my mind

Described as “a moniker for a person and a group of friends from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,” william h. travis makes an empathetic brand of folk which walks the line between fondness and disaffection. As such, latest track ‘unfuck my mind’ could be something of a theme tune for the project. A song delivered from a jaded person stuck within the awful present, though nevertheless pining for a return to something more curious and joyful. “Candy cigarettes, big league chew were fantastic / now I can’t even drink water without the microplastic,” as a typical verse goes. “Is it the world or is it me, it’s the two of us probably.”

Zoe Firn – Forever New

The latest single from Brooklyn songwriter Zoe Firn, ‘Forever New’ is a song about the enduring nature of love drawn from an experience of that very thing. The song “is inspired by my grandparents, who were married for over 50 years until my granddad passed last October,” Firn explains. “According to gramgram, she and granddad are together in every life, past, present, and future.” Written from the perspective of her grandmother, the track illuminates this romantic idea further, serving as both a highly personal picture of a treasured relationship and a wider embrace of the hope and joy. “Told the grandkids how we met / in every other past life,” as one verse goes. “Distance never did keep us apart / on earth and I believe / that neither does time.”

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“An album born of travel and distance, pieced together from segments of other places, but ending up very much unique.” That’s how we described Bato Mato by Carmarthen’s Adwaith released by Libertino Records back in 2022. The record was an ambitious one, drawing upon “any number of psych, grunge and dream pop influences to realise its sound,” as we wrote, but follow-up Solas goes even further. A twenty-three track double album which serves as the closing part of a coming-of-age trilogy, tracing the arc of the band’s progression which sees them drawn back to their West Walian roots at the height of their powers. “I feel like we’re confident in ourselves as musicians, and our sound, and the world that we want to create,” as Hollie Singer explains. “We feel fully realised.”

Watch the video shot and edited by Rhys Grail below:

Solas will be released on the 7th February via Libertino Records.

Anna Arboles – By Any Means Necessary

LA-based songwriter Anna Arboles is gearing up to release Pure Fanfiction, a brand new album on Anxiety Blanket Records which fictionalises the personal in order to edge closer to the truth. “These songs are about passing into adulthood and clarifying who I wanted to be,” Arboles explains, “but are not necessarily about my life. I wrote these songs as soundtracks to movies, TV shows, books, or photographs that catalyzed introspection. They’re like fanfiction for my life.” Taking inspiration from seminal queer film By Hook or By Crook by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard, first single ‘By Any Means Necessary’ serves as an ode to friendship and its supportive power. Hence how the doubt of the repeated refrain—”I don’t know if I can do it”—is slowly conquered, the uneasy movement towards self-actualisation made easier by those there along the way.

Pure Fanfiction will be released on the 14th February via Anxiety Blanket Records

Dead Gowns – In the Haze

Early next year, Dead Gowns (that’s the project of Portland, Maine’s Genevieve Beaudoin) will release their debut album, It’s Summer, I Love You, and I’m Surrounded by Snow on New York label Mtn Laurel Recording Co. Second single ‘In the Haze’ is a beautiful introduction, a patient and spacious country-tinged indie rock song that put’s Beaudoin’s incredible vocals front and centre, shifting from a quiet hush to a quivering wail as she explores the complex emotions of dealing with a then-undiagnosed illness. It’s indicative of a record that takes real-life experiences and then stretches their edges, probing at possibilities and straying from fact into fiction. “There’s a sense of freedom by starting in an autobiographical place and then expanding into fiction,” Beaudoin describes. “I learn so much about what has happened by exploring what could have been.”

It’s Summer, I Love You, and I’m Surrounded by Snow will be released via Mtn Laurel Recording Co. on 14^th February. Pre-order it now from the Dead Gowns Bandcamp page.

georgie – 2d

Serving as a celebration to a specific corner of the DIY scene in Rochester, New York, spit takes and split tapes is a four-band split release by raincoated records. Featured artists include Bugcatcher (whose album Go! we covered last year), Home Videos and Kitchen (who we first mentioned way back in 2016), as well as georgie, the project led by Claire G. McClusky who “combin[ed] ecological, personal and political sensibilities” for the excellent album Intimacy Hangover in 2023. One of the latter’s contributions to the split release, ‘2d’ sees McClusky and co. push the georgie sound through its usual airy folk style until it disintegrates into a noisy crescendo.

Meagre Martin – Frankie

After a fantastic 12 months which has included appearance at the Reeperbahn Festival, Pop Montreal and Pitchfork London, as well as successful singles ‘Never Thought‘ and ‘Malcolm‘, Berlin-based indie rockers Meagre Martin are closing out the year with one final, celebratory single, ‘Frankie’, which also serves as the first preview of EP Up To Snuff coming next February on Mansions and Millions. Pairing gauzy shoegaze textures with a persistent rhythm, the track embraces a bright spirit of playfulness and curiosity. “I can’t help / But smile / I look at you like a child,” as the opening lines go, submitting to the thrilling sensation of falling for someone and letting the current move in whatever direction it sees fit.

Watch the video directed by Federico Corazzini and Meagre Martin below:

‘Frankie’ is out now via Mansions and Millions and available from Bandcamp.

Nona Invie – Forget My Name

Created as an antidote to ubiquitous feelings of anxiety and fear, Nona Invie‘s appropriately titled new album Self-soothing sees the Minneapolis songwriter aim to provide a safe haven of calm within an often terrible contemporary world. “These songs are a weighted blanket that comforted and supported me in a lonely time,” as Invie explains. “I hope that they can be supportive, comforting to others.” Opener and lead single ‘Forget My Name’ offers a glimpse of the meditative sound which brings this mission to life. A lesson in the necessity of loosening our grip and letting go those things which do us no good in order to more fully inhabit a healthy sense of self.

Watch the video by Ingrid Weise below:

Self-soothing will be released on the 28th February via Boiled Records and you can pre-order it now.

Raybody – Puddle

Then recording under her own name, Katy Rea released full-length The Urge That Saves You back in 2022, an album which, as we put it, “explor[ed] her life not directly but through imagined characters and metaphorical stories that feel something like modern fables.” Now having adopted the moniker Raybody, Rea has returned with ‘Puddle’, the first taste of a new era for an artist currently at work on her second album. “[The new name] allows me to step into a braver and more honest part of myself,” Rea explains. “I’m after a truth that requires me to unattach from my given name—which has always felt sweet, well mannered, and more feminine than I am.” The new single introduces this new spirit, combining classic singer-songwriter sensibilities with something more singular and strange, resulting in a sound able to paint an intimate picture of a blossoming relationship and the self-reflection inherent within the process of learning to love another person.

Watch the video shot by Sawyer Gaunt and directed by Nicole Townsend and Rea herself below:

‘Puddle’ is out now and available from the Raybody Bandcamp page.

Robert Ascroft – Where Did You Go feat. Britta Phillips (Luna, Dean & Britta)

With album Echo Still Remains coming in January via Hand Drawn Dracula, producer and artist Robert Ascroft has been releasing a series of collaborative singles in recent months, including ‘Faded Photographs’ with Ruth Radelet and ‘Empty Pages’ with Zumi Rosow of The Black Lips. The latter offered “a beguilingly ambiguous interplay between rhythm and fuzz” as we put it, complete with a cinematic video, and now Ascroft has enlisted vocalist and actress Britta Phillips (who you might know as part of Luna and Dean & Britta) for another dark and filmic track. With rhythmic percussion, sensual vocals and an enveloping night-time mood, ‘Where Did You Go’ channels a sultry Lynchian aesthetic full of nocturnal weight. The full record promises to feature the likes of Ora Cogan and Christopher Owens too, so is certainly one to watch out for in 2025.

Watch the video starring Phillips and directed by Ascroft himself below:

Echo Still Remains is out January 31st via Hand Drawn Dracula and you can pre-order it now.

Sun June – 41 Dollars

Described as a song about “listening to men talk,” Sun June‘s new single ’41 Dollars’ is the Austin band’s first proper release since last year’s Bad Dream Jaguar—a record we described as “painting impressionistic pictures of love and longing in quiet dusk-hued pastels, as though in effort to preserve that which might otherwise fade out into nothing. The single is every bit as emotive and assured as we’ve come to expect from the outfit, the sound holding reflection and longing within the same moment, and what results is a sound placid on the surface yet roiling with a myriad of unseen currents and pressures below. Released via Run For Cover Records, the single comes complete with a demo version of ’16 Riders’ as well as a remix of ‘Easy Violence’ by Porches.

Wasn’t it all in my head?
Wanted you
Fighting off all that I can
Watching the horizon waul
Trying my best in the cool water
Watching it rise and fall
Listening to you talk

Watch the video below:

’41 Dollars’ is out now via Run For Cover Records and available from Bandcamp.

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