To celebrate the album’s release, the band have released one final single, closing track ‘Night Driving’. Drawing together strands of sleepy psych and propulsive post punk, the track follows a meandering dream-logic towards its spiky finale, where the tension of self-censure that lies latent from the off finally bubbles to the surface. The band have also made a video to accompany the track. The animation, hand-drawn by Reichman, captures the song both literally and thematically, as a night-time drive turns strange and surreal from the safety of the backseat. “It’s funny the way we form memories,” she explains. “That’s what I got to play with here, re-creating a sequence of moments from the POV of a kid dozing off in the back seat of the family car: a trip to the bank, through the pneumatic tube to reach the lollipop at the end, then dozing off into a more surreal dream state.”

Hefty Wimpy is out now and available from the MAN LEE Bandcamp page.

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San Diego-based songwriter Bella Cloud sits somewhere between contemporaries like Phoebe Bridgers and Merce Lemon, grafting pop and shoegaze sensibilities onto an indie folk style to create something both emotionally charged and richly immersive. With new EP The Limerence on the horizon, Cloud has shared new single ‘The Littlest Death’, and the track is the ideal entry point for newcomers. Spencer Dugan (guitar), Jeremy Field (viola) and Rebecca Sykes (drums) lend their talents too, helping to create a sound vivid enough to match the sense of reflection and longing which runs through the vocals.

The Limerent is coming soon and you can find Bella Cloud in the usual places.

Green Gardens – Year of Love

“Combining swaying, laidback harmonies with fuzzy guitars and an almost Medieval preoccupation with heavy themes and gothic imagery.” That’s how we depicted the work of Leeds outfit Green Gardens when writing of their album This Is Not Your Fault back in 2023. The self-described feudal post-rock outfit are back with new single ‘Years of Love’ with Tiny Library Records, a song which both continues this style and makes certain alterations, swapping out some of the grand scale in favour of increased intimacy. “’Year of Love’ is a step away from the live room,” the band explain. “The guitars and drums suddenly felt too far away, so we brought them and the small room where we recorded them right in to our ears. It’s about the dogs, and it’s about the flies, and it’s about the trees. I’m happy this song is out while the winter closes, and those things grow again.”

Helena Deland – Silver and Red / Bigger Pieces

“When I finished recording what I thought would be my first album, I was faced with a miscellaneous bunch of songs,” describes Montreal singer songwriter Helena Deland. “Instead of wiggling them into the expected format, I released them as a series of short EPs called Altogether Unaccompanied.” Several years since the previous instalments, Deland has released the fifth volume of Altogether Unaccompanied, two songs that very much deserve to see the light of day. ‘Silver and Red’ is wan and wintry, a lo-fi acoustic track that put’s Deland’s vocals at the forefront, while ‘Bigger Pieces’ fleshes things out with contributions from Alexandre Larin (guitar), Francis Ledoux (percussion) and Cédric Martel (bass). Check out Nik Arthur’s video for ‘Silver and Red’ and listen to ‘Bigger Pieces’ below:

Altogether Unaccompanied, Vol. V is out now via the Helena Deland Bandcamp page.

Joni – Things I Left Behind

Having spent the best part of a decade writing songs for other people in New York and Los Angeles, a move to London, a difficult break up and feelings of pandemic-based isolation pushed Joni back to making music of her own. In April she releases Things I Left Behind, her debut LP, via Keeled Scales and Hand in Hive, a collection of ten songs that look backwards in order to move forwards. The latest single and title track is a good example, exploring life’s ever shifting nature via those pieces of oneself cast overboard in the name of pressing on ahead.

Lavender Blue – Scarlet Blood

Next month sees the release of The In Between, the new album from Asheville, NC artist Lavender Blue on Ghost Mountain Records. Previous single ‘Wishbone’ offered what we described as “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,” and though latest offering ‘Scarlet Blood’ opens with a far more restrained, acoustic style, it sacrifices none of the emotional intensity. For while the initial mood is one of numbness and stasis, but the sensation is not lasting. Instead Kayla Zuskin and co. push through to something more keenly felt, and the track settles into a kind of ebb and flow between subdued quiet and rising intensity, accepting such patterns as the natural state of things. As the repeated refrain goes: “What goes around comes back again.”

MAN LEE – Wind

Back in October we wrote about MAN LEE, the recording project of Brooklyn-based duo Sam Reichman and Tim Lee, as single ‘Best Ones’ tapping into the pair’s close-knit connection to evoke “the sense of solidarity between close friends after a challenging break-up with something between open compassion, droll humour and languid cool.” With full-length album Hefty Wimpy coming next month, new single ‘Wind’ offers another look at the distinctive personality of the MAN LEE sound. A nostalgically fuzzy track which reflects on the formative events of life, resisting the urge to revaluate memories with the new perspective of later years to instead inhabit the magic and mystery of the original moment.

Meagre Martin – Comfort Food

We’ve mentioned Up To Snuff, the new EP from Berlin-based project Meagre Martin, several times in recent months. Single ‘Frankie‘ “pair[ed] gauzy shoegaze textures with a persistent rhythm…embrac[ing] a bright spirit of playfulness and curiosity” and ‘In The Room‘ used a “slow, sludgy style to take on the cloying weight of toxic masculinity, opening up a space in which such forces can be acknowledged and confronted once and for all.” With the EP out now via Mansions and Millions, the outfit is back with final single ‘Comfort Food’. It’s the release’s closing track, which puts a peppy, affirming rhythm behind what might otherwise be a wistful sound, powering through the daunting or melancholic aspects of change with a sense of sheer motion, emerging on the other side with something like positivity.

Moontype – Long Country

Led by singer and bassist Margaret McCarthy, Chicago indie rock outfit Moontype won acclaim with their debut full-length Bodies of Water back in 2021, a record which felt like the final painting after the series of sketch-like releases (like ‘The Great Ohio / Not That Easy‘) which preceded it. But if Bodies of Water was the culmination of something, it was not the Moontype project in its entirety but merely one iteration of it. Now it appears a new cycle is beginning, the outfit signing to Orindal Records and unveiling new single ‘Long Country’. The first taste of the fruits of a new gestation period in which McCarthy has both altered the line-up and grown as a songwriter and musician, and a kind of stepping stone between the old version and the new. “I would never leave you without saying goodbye,” as McCarthy sings in the opening line, but every farewell leads to new beginnings.

Watch the video directed and edited by Ian Kelly below:

‘Long Country’ is out now via Orindal Records and available via Bandcamp.

Pink Must – Karaoke of the Bends

“Establishes an interplay between polish and dissonance, as well as an often wryly sardonic vocal style and conscious resistance to easy labelling at every turn.” That’s how we introduced the self-titled album from Brooklyn-based duo Pink Must back in January, with single ‘Morphe Sun’ embodying the ambitious and idiosyncratic vision Mari Rubio (More Eaze) and Lynn Avery bring to the life via the project. With the album coming later this month on Copenhagen label 15 Love, Pink Must have released new single ‘Karaoke of the Bends’. The song highlights both the strange and heartfelt dimensions of the the record, and is unique for being the only track on the record where Avery takes over vocal duties. “It’s that kind of corny ‘I know I’ll see you soon, but I want to see you tonight’ feeling,” they explain, “and doing karaoke of songs from The Bends by Radiohead.”

TOM LARK – Rock & Roll Baby

The recording project of New Zealand songwriter Shannon Fowler, Tom Lark is preparing to release new full-length Moonlight Hotel this spring. An album which spans almost a hundred years to link two experiences of displacement in the wake of natural disasters—that of Shannon’s family after the 1929 earthquake in the pioneer town of Murchison on the South Island, and his own in 2011 following the earthquakes which struck Ōtautahi. Latest single ‘Rock & Roll Baby’ embraces a psych-inflected folk rock sound to lean into the volatility inherent with such themes, facing down the peaks and troughs of life with an easygoing acceptance.

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Consisting of Brooklyn‘s Michael Matsakis and a rotating roster friends, Collectors Item sits at the intersection of indie rock, ambient and slowcore and offers something at once intimate and ambitious. New album Peaceful in the Absence encapsulates the project’s spirit, a release full of searching questions which gradually builds towards a personal reckoning. Single ‘am i enough for me?’ comes at the crunch end of this arc, “the point in the album when the shit hits the fan and I start thinking about the things I’ve been avoiding thinking about,” as Matsakis explains, “as well as asking the questions I’ve been avoiding asking myself.” Collector’s Item evoke such an experience with a sound full of hazy density and latent weight, clouds of confusion masking the ultimate resolution, be it destructive or healing.

Evan Uhlmann – Sweet December

“An outlet in which he might grapple with doubts, concerns and hopes as they arose.” That’s how we described Evan Uhlmann‘s latest single ‘Chasing Daises’ back in August, with vocals from Jessica Larrabee (AKA She Keeps Bees) and production by Greg Uhlmann elevating the sound’s immediacy and sincere simplicity. Again released via Future Gods, latest track ‘Sweet December’ is more reflective, looking back on a young life within a city, complete with all the inevitable mistakes which come with living fast within the moment. The result is sleekly assured in its contemplation, and carries the kind of unguarded emotion which Uhlmann has fast made a signature of his sound.

‘Sweet December’ is out now via Future Gods and available from Bandcamp.

Korda Korder – What Have You Done?

‘What Have You Done?’, the new single from UK outfit Korda Korder, feels something of a throwback. The kind of act which went stratospheric in the golden age of music blogs, powered by nothing more than word of mouth. There’s very little information on the band, no bio, no press shots, no flashy social media campaigns. The single is only available to stream via Soundcloud, or alternatively you can email the band themselves to grab the MP3. The result is not only a refreshing rejection of the contemporary modes of publicising music, but also a clever way to put all the focus on the song itself. A dreamy croon which would make Mazzy Star proud.

Leah Nawy – I Was a Flower

New York-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Leah Nawy has just released new single, ‘I Was A Flower’. Their first track to be entirely self-produced, the song serves as the ideal entrance point for those unfamiliar with Nawy’s sound, drawing inspiration from the likes of Big Thief, SASAMI and Indigo De Souza to create something simultaneously delicate and empowered. Opening with a spare restraint, the sound lives up to the title, blossoming gradually across its three and a half minute runtime, the sense of warm fondness escalating towards its indie rock conclusion.

‘I Was a Flower’ is out now and available from the usual places.

LEYA – Corners

Consisting of harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz, LEYA is a project which exists across boundaries. Sonically their work reaches for everything from medieval folk to contemporary pop, and has found a home beyond the underground scene in New York to grace fashion runways, adult films and more. Their first solo work since 2020 album Flood Dream, LEYA return next month with I Forget Everything, a brand new full-length on NNA Tapes which continues to evolve their sound while returning to the fundamental elements at the heart of it. Single ‘Corners’ shows how soundscapes built around the key elements of harp, strings and vocals can be so evocative and ambiguous, offering a glimpse into a record which promises to explore the avenues open to us in the face of catastrophe.

Little Oso – Metaphorical Ohio

Back in August we featured Portland, Maine indie rock band Little Oso, previewing their forthcoming record How Lucky To Be Somebody which comes out on Repeating Cloud and Safe Suburban Home in January. Writing of lead single, ‘Other People’s Lives’, we described how “nostalgic dream pop tones and [vocalist & guitarist Jeannette] Berman’s fond vocal style possess a real sense of sincerity, as though attempting to celebrate the tenuous present as it gets squeezed smaller and smaller by a variety of looming threats.” As the album’s release approaches, Little Oso have unveiled a second single, ‘Metaphorical Ohio’, another song that doubles down on a sense of summertime nostalgia with sweet melodies, sparkly vocals and an enveloping sense of fondness. Check out the video, which the band describe as “anti-capitalist baseball game where the rules are just vibes,” below.

How Lucky To Be Somebody will be released via Safe Suburban Homes and Repeating Cloud on 17th January. Pre-order it now from the Little Oso Bandcamp page.

Made of Shape – Flashlight

Made of Shape is the project of Olympia multi-instrumentalist Jona Mor who, after contracting Covid and then developing Long Covid, found himself isolated on an island, living in a cabin with just his dog for company. But Mor managed to use the period productively, writing a collection of songs that will be released in the coming months. Lead single ‘Flashlight’ is our first glimpse, revealing a crystalline and reflective brand of dream pop. Mor says the song was “born from a night of excessive reflection and isolation,” and although the focus is on missed opportunities and pining for the past, there is a sense of direction too. “There is definitely an element of desire,” he explains, “but more than that, it’s a song about a missed connection and the need for reconciliation. The intention was to create a sense of looking back while moving forward.”

MAN LEE – Best One

MAN LEE is the art rock project of Brooklyn-based duo Sam Reichman and Tim Lee. “We had always been writing our own music,” Reichman explains, “but it wasn’t until we got together that we found our footing.” New single ‘Best One’ shows off the confidence and invention of such a close relationship, with post-punk sensibilities elevated by production from Lora-Faye Åshuvud (AKA Arthur Moon). The sense of connection extends to the track’s themes too, evoking the sense of solidarity between close friends after a challenging break-up with something between open compassion, droll humour and languid cool.

Watch the video below, using archive footage to create what Reichman has described as “a mixed-media take on girlhood.”

‘Best One’ is out now and available from Bandcamp.

Sam Moss – Swimming

Early next year, Virginia-based songwriter (and spoon carver) Sam Moss returns with a new record, Swimming. The album was recorded in North Carolina alongside a stellar cast of collaborators, including Isa Burke, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Sinclair Palmer, Molly Sarlé and Joe Westerlund, and promises to continue Moss’s signature style of probing folk music. As Nathan Salsburg so nicely puts it in his liner notes, the album is a collection of “reckonings and wrestlings with awe and wonder, dread and despair, fragility and endurance—that manage to expand well beyond the frame of Sam Moss without losing him to the landscape.” To whet collective appetites, Sam Moss has released the title track, a typically rich and affecting folk song that feels as bright and fleeting as a sunbeam.

To be out of my depth,
but somehow swimming

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