Last May, Toronto songwriter  and multi-instrumentalist Abigail Lapell released Anniversary, an album of love songs that explored the L-word in a variety of its many guises. Now, almost a year on, Lapell has announced More Songs About Love, an extended version of the record that adds eight extra tracks, including acoustic versions and French translations of some of Anniversary‘s standouts. Lapell made the album with the help of Tony Dekker (of Great Lake Swimmers), and he lends his vocals to the lead single, an acoustic duet version of ‘Wait Up’. “I feel like it brings out such a different, more intimate side of the song,” Lapell describes, “and was super fun to play and sing live together.”

Amiture Music – Mountain

Jack Whitescarver’s Amiture might be a thing of the past, but a new project has risen from the ashes. Amiture Music sees Whitescarver enlist drummer Justin Fossella, bassist Max Berine Shafer and multi-instrumentalist and percussionist Allie Wrubel to push into a style of experimental rock unreachable to a solo artist. “As musicians, the four of us are able to access an unspoken knowing, a shared voice,” Whitescarver says, “and this intimate understanding has allowed us to blend and mold our distinct approaches and styles into a unified, total sound.” The first taste of this new beginning, single ‘Mountain’ embodies the deep sincerity which underpins Amiture Music, forgoing any conceits or flashy gimmicks in favour of open collaboration and good old fashioned craft.

Domino Lewis – Do It All

Described as a songwriter “born in France but raised on Gordon Lightfoot and Joan Baez,” Domino Lewis crafts a timeless style of folk which owes equal debts to the classics and contemporaries of the genre. Ahead of a new EP scheduled for release sometime later this year, Lewis has shared brand new single, ‘Do It All’. A song which draws on a quote by Sylvia Plath—”I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations possible in my life. And I am horribly limited”—to form a sound at once affirming and shot through by melancholy. An apparent contradiction embraced throughout the track, as though to fully inhabit one’s life is to grasp both sides of the coin with identical curiousity. “I wanna see a morning /and moonlight just the same,” as the opening lines assert. “I wanna burn the sunshine / wanna drown the rain.”

Lewis joined up with Western AF on their European tour to record a version of the track. Watch the video recorded and mixed by Will Ross and edited by Manuel Deakins below:

‘Do It All’ is out now and available from the Domino Lewis Bandcamp page.

Foxtails Brigade – Forevermore

Described as “a lonely, bedroom anthem for the lost and forgotten,” ‘Forevermore’ is the latest single from San Francisco‘s Foxtails Brigade, and the first taste of their upcoming new full-length Red Album. Led by Laura Weinbach, the project has long made what we’ve called previously “a peculiar brand of Gothic folk-pop which embraces the weirder side of life,” and the new single is no exception. A poignant ode to those who exist at some kind of angle to the conventional modes of living, too often shunned by the cultural and political gatekeepers of their time.

‘Forevermore’ is out now. You can sign up for early access of Red Album on the Foxtails Brigade website.

Hectorine – Is Love An Illusion?

Bay Area-based songwriter Sarah Gagnon, AKA Hectorine, is preparing to release thrid album Arrow of Love later this spring with Take a Turn Records, an album which invoked the Sumerian goddess Inanna in its conception. Mesopotamian myth tells of Inanna descending into the underworld, giving up clothing and possessions at each of the gates of hell to finally arrive naked, and Gagnon followed the analogy to trace a path through a period of intense change during the pandemic, stripping away all protections to confront demons unguarded. Single and opener ‘Is Love An Illusion’ signals the start of this journey, with flitting marimba and dramatic vocals drawing the listener into dark, alluring netherworld.

Arrow of Love is out on the 23rd May on Take a Turn Records and you can pre-order it now.

IE – Simplify

Later this spring, Minneapolis quintet IE are releasing their latest album Reverse Earth on Quindi Records. The release draws upon kosmische, lounge pop and psychedelica in its sound, though with an intentional style which prioritises intuitive flow. There’s sizeable variation across the five songs, but lead single and centrepiece ‘Simplfy’ shows off the evocative patience of the outfit. A song which seems to raise itself from minimal beginnings, stirring with an almost organic logic, like the mysterious mechanical movements of subcellular particules, or else the heavenly bodies burning bright through outer space.

Mae Powell – Rope You In

Having signed with Karma Chief and Colemine Records, self-described “songstress and rainbow entity” Mae Powell is preparing to release a second album this summer, and latest single ‘Rope You In’ introduces the audience to the ethereal atmosphere and emotional clarity of the Bay Area artist’s work. The song was essentially the origin point of the record, the first steps of a challenging journey through a myriad of emotions, though step into the lush sound and crooned vocals and you’ll soon discover the experience to be one which places comfort front and centre. “I feel grateful for the way writing songs helps me make sense of and process emotions while I’m in the thick of them,” as Powell explains, and now the songs exist as something which might help listeners too.

Mourning [A] BLKstar – Stop Lion 2

Following on from 2024’s stellar Ancient//Future, Mourning [A] BLKstar are already on their way back with Flowers of the Living, a brand new full-length to be released by Don Giovanni Records to coincide with the Afrofuturist collective’s ten-year anniversary. And, if lead single ‘Stop Lion 2’ is indicative of the album in its entirety, MAB draw on the full breadth of creativity and expertise gained across this decade, bringing to life a sound packed with detail yet unafraid to spread its wings and take its time. Indeed, this is a song where space is given equal footing next to any instrument or vocal. “Not only does space represent stillness, contentment, and mindfulness, it’s also the fulcrum of collectivism and free expression, and a key tenet of the Black ecstatic lineage,” as the press release puts it. “Space has always been politicized, and to view it from a place of abundance rather than scarcity, even in a conceptual sense, is a rebuke of fascist oppressors and an affirmation of love and self-belief.” The result is every bit as defiant, moody and assured as this suggests, and primes the canvas ready for a blockbuster album. Watch the video below:

Flowers of the Living is coming soon via Don Giovanni Records and you can pre-order it now.

nina gala – honey

Back in 2022 we wrote about swan heart by Baltimore-based songwriter nina gala, an album we described as “reflecting on what was and what might have been with an almost reverent tone. One which explores feelings of longing, anger and despair yet descends fully into none, instead suspended in the strange wonder that things such as love could ever happen at all.” Now nina gala is back with ‘honey’, a brand new single which further descends into a shimmering world of romance and fear. “do you still wanna taste my honey? / do you miss my touch? / do you love my body?” as the opening lines ask, gala’s vocals soaring over a sparse arrangement like concerned thoughts filling an empty room at the dead of night.

Penny & the Pits – Montenegro on Ice

Penelope Stevens is perhaps best known as part of New Brunswick alt-rock outfit Motherhood, but is now ready to introduce a new project to the world—Penny & the Pits. Out via Forward Music Group, first single ‘Montenegro on Ice’ lacks none of the mood or bite of the Motherhood sound, Stevens matching head-banging heft with an abstract, poetic lyricism which plays like a personal journey into the strange currents and slacks of this thing we call life. A song “about letting your memories overwhelm your life,” as Stevens explains, “and about using any ol’ thing to avoid confronting your trauma.”

Laps like milk, with my mind like silt,
I underwent the kind of thing you can’t forget,
Unbroken, but not unbent
full eclipse
I was held up, transfixed
I was looking for some kind of sign I can’t ignore
But I found no sign I can’t ignore.

‘Montenegro on Ice’ is out now via Forward Music Group.

Slake – Bonecollector

Written to christen their new project, Mary Claire has just released the single ‘Bonecollector’ under the moniker Slake via Cherub Dream Records. Produced by Ryan Albert (Babehoven) and mixed by Melina Duterte (Jay Som), the song is both a window into the singular vision of the Californian artist and an embodiment of the collaborative spirit which brings their work to life. Bridge Gamble (bass), Ryan Albert (additional guitar), Lil Spakoski (synth/theremin), Oona Albertson (drums) and Maya Bon (additional vocals) all lend their talents, as too do a whole crew of directors, editors, camera crew and performers for the track’s accompanying, suitably commited, video filmed at the Padma Yoga Studio and Kilowatt Bar. Watch below:

‘Bonecollector’ is out now via Cherub Dream Records.

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The mood is set by opener ‘a garden, a window, a wedding bell’, a slow and poignant track which plays like some contemporary retelling of an old folk hymn. “I left my man / I left my home / the alley cats / the furniture / all the paintings on the wall,” gala sings. “The wooden spoon / the sugar bowl.” As the list of things left behind grows, so too does the energy within the sound, its orchestral folk swelling with string arrangements by Jon Birkholz and eventually gathering into stormy tumult.

old scars, loose threads
the wedding bells in my head
blood brothers, best friends
all your promises
I asked you nice
then I got on my knees
then I got mean

The title track emerges in the aftermath, shorter and sweeter if no less dramatic, the first of a trio of songs through ‘we looked like angels’ and ‘perfect, precious’ which evokes the very thing being mourned with the fondness of retrospection. Short instrumental interlude ‘healing’ refreshes the canvas before the second grand folk track ‘the river is mine’ announces itself. It’s another plus-six minute song which keeps its intention close to its chest as it unfurls, circling with a cryptic potential. “The river is mine,” nina gala sings with ominous weight, “not a glimmer in your blue eyes,” the track threatening to break into another stormy crescendo and finally making good on the promise.

After the slow turn of ‘tangerine’, closer ‘casalena’ charts the new position in which nina gala finds herself. One where old dreams have faded and the future remains indistinct. “I’ve played the virgin mary / madonna too,” she sings, “once I wanted to be married / now I don’t know what I want to do.” A track about moving on without a full recovery or clean break, pushing forward within the clouded confusion of everything. “It’s time to wear / my fathers name / can’t deny / from which where I came / but I wanna love / without all this,” goes the final verse:

pain and shame
manipulation
fantasy
empty dreams
haven’t I earned my place on earth
after all this suffering

swan heart is out now and available from the nina gala Bandcamp page.

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The solo project of Australia‘s Keeley Young, Claude offers a warm and reflective brand of folk, its gentle sound utilising restraint to map out the depth of its emotion. New single ‘Tamarind’ highlights the interplay between openness and caution inherent to the style, its earnest tone inviting the listener close while retaining a certain guarded nature. As though aware of both its power and fragility, and understanding what it is able to give away without betraying its own needs.

Too many days passed, without a word.
I think, you’ve liked fucking with me.
But I’m heading home to a house filled with warmth,
and I feel okay with holding your scorn;
and maybe someday you’ll see, how misinformed,
you were.

‘Tamarind’ is out now and is available from the Claude Bandcamp page.

Eldridge Rodriguez – Scars in the Vein (feat. Thalia Zedek)

We’ve covered the music of Boston‘s Eldridge Rodriguez several times, most recently with singles ‘Megalodon‘ and ‘Have I Gone Too Far‘. Both tracks are part of forthcoming album Atrophy, and although the release is still TBC, the outfit have unveiled another song to tide us over. Described as a “rant on the ineffectuality of performance activism,” ‘Scars in the Vein’ tears into the moribund politics of the perpetually online, mourning the energy expended grandstanding and fighting with bad faith commentators when it could be put towards more direct action. The song sees the Thalia Zedek (Come, Live Skull, E) lend her vocals, finding catharsis if not hope in its impassioned cynicism.

Atrophy will be released sometime in the future on Midriff Records, so keep an eye on the Eldridge Rodriguez Bandcamp page for more information.

Jake Tittle – Fair Warning

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jake Tittle has put out a number of releases on Anxiety Blanket Records, building a collection of  heartfelt tracks which push beyond acoustic folk into pop and soft rock. With James McAlister on drums and Lexi Vega (Mini Trees) on backing vocals, latest single ‘Fair Warning’ takes Tittle’s sound in a different direction, the backing beats adding a certain brooding attitude to a song caught amid the dark clouds of a storm. “I wrote ‘Fair Warning’ in the middle of a dying relationship,” he explains, “I was so scared of being alone that I refused to accept that it was dying and that hurt me even more.”

‘Fair Warning’ is out now via Anxiety Blanket Records and you can grab it now from Bandcamp.

Lori Goldston – The Waves And What’s Under

Composer and cellist Lori Goldston has had a wide ranging career. From scoring films, operas and dance productions to collaborating with the likes of David Byrne and The Wedding Present, not to mention touring with Nirvana in the early nineties. Stylistically her work is equally plastic, reaching across classical, folk and post-rock styles, and forthcoming album High and Low is no less ambitious. The ‘High’ portion of the record consists of solo cello pieces written for and toward the late Geneviève Elverum, and single ‘The Waves And What’s Under’ highlights the mournful beauty of the sound. During her illness, Elverum described feeling “herself floating in the air above a mountain.” Goldston explains. “I had a kind of vision about playing music that would help keep her floating easily there, and at the same time sustain the ripples of her presence in the world.”

High and Low is out on 7th October via SofaBurn and you can pre-order it now.

Mamalarky – Mythical Bonds

Mamalarky have announced brand new LP Pocket Fantasy, coming out on Fire Talk Records later this year, and lead single ‘Mythical Bonds’ shows off the new direction of their sound. After last year’s double single Meadow / Moss, Livvy Bennett, Michael Hunter and Noor Khan push into a brighter, more playful sound, its mischievous energy geared towards a sense of fondness. “I really needed to write something to accurately show Noor how much her friendship means to me, and our journey as musicians and friends,” Bennett explains. “We need more songs about friendship.” Check out the video directed by Ambar Navarro below:

Pocket Fantasy is out on 30th September via Fire Talk Records and you can pre-order it now.

Mark Mulcahy – Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Back in January, Perpetual Doom released Stayed Tuned: Season One, a TV theme covers compilation which saw the likes of Macie Stewart, Karl Blau and Dawn Riding take on everything from the themes of Twin Peaks, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse to those of Cheers and Fraiser. This month sees the beginning of a brand new season, with a new cover released every Thursday and acts like Accessory (AKA Dehd‘s Jason Balla), Bill MacKay, Wild Pink, Vetiver, Sarah La Puerta, Leon III and others promised. This week sees Mark Mulcahy take on Fred Rogers’s ‘Won’t You be My Neighbor,’ adding a shadowy strangeness while keeping the sentiment at song’s heart.

Stayed Tuned: Season 2 is up and running now on Perpetual Doom and you can follow it on Bandcamp.

nina gala – we looked like angels

After releasing a couple of EPs, Baltimore’s nina gala is set to released her debut full-length album swan heart this autumn, and lead single ‘we looked like angels’ gives a glimpse of what to expect. A sweet track where romance and melancholy marble together, the bright shimmer of the guitars evoking the celestial imagery as gala’s vocals hark back to some lost love. “One day I’ll call you again / you’re a memory till then,” she sings, “something I can reach out and touch / but can’t touch back.” Left for now to remember fondly, hoping the heavenly being might descend again.

Nothing Really – Backseat Driver

The time since Melbourne‘s Nothing Really released their debut EP Yuck has been anything but easy, various personal upheavals and losses compounding an already difficult period. New single ‘Backseat Driver’ emerges from this phase, a track shaded by discouragement as though turned cynical by recent times. But within the despondency lies something else. An attempt to recognise the value of persisting despite everything, and in doing so helping others too. Indeed, vocalist/guitarist Vic Austin describes the track as “a reflection on how to care for others while also giving them the space to make their own mistakes. These lyrics are really about learning how to be a better friend.”

‘Backseat Driver’ is out now and available from the Nothing Really Bandcamp page.

Oh Lonesome Ana – MEG/\DETH TEE

Sacramento’s Oh Lonesome Ana released their debut full-length MEG/\DETH TEE earlier this month. The collection is inspired by and built around the poetry and prose of friend Johnny Allen, adapted into music by the band’s Evan Bailey. The title track offers a glimpse of the kind of melancholic yet wryly humorous tone which results. A meditation on the passing of time which identifies what changes, what is lost and what remains behind. “Am I too old to wear this Megadeth tee?” asks one such verse. “How could anyone / After all these years / Still like me?” Like Allen before them, Oh Lonesome Ana might not have an answer for such questions, but in ensuring they are still asked, offer hope in the very process of searching. Of continuing on in spite of everything.

Pat Keen – Love & Drugs

Writing of album Cells Remain back in 2020, we described Pat Keen‘s music as a “complex web of arrangements […] experimentation devoid of pomposity or pretension,” which attempts to conjure the nuances of a person’s inner life. The Minneapolis-based artist returns this month with ‘Love & Drugs’, a new single which furthers this ideal, exploring how chemicals might alter the appearance and texture of life, and how care is required to get the balance right. All delivered with a bright yet understated confidence, Keen’s vocals barely more than a murmur. Like confessions told directly into your ear.

Precocious Neophyte – AIWA

Haling from Seoul and based in Chicago, Precocious Neophyte is a songwriting project that germinated from a period of demoralization. “I decided that I would never play the guitar in front of people,” explain the liner notes of new album Home In The Desert. “I shut myself in. Cocooning. Just read Korean novels, a little poetry.” But their thoughts eventually turned to past times, old friends, watching the dawn over Hongdae. And thinking about home led to the guitar again. Solo jams at first, eventually a band. An album with singles like ‘AIWA’, which offer the past like dreams to experience anew.

Titus Andronicus – (I’m) Screwed

This autumn sees the return of Titus Andronicus with brand new album The Will to Live on Merge Records, and latest single ‘(I’m) Screwed’ finds them as passionate and furious as ever. Patrick Stickles has carved out a place among the best songwriters in the country over the past decade and more, and the new album is no less ambitious. A meditation on the fragility and beauty of life, and a railing against all those things which refuse to grant it the respect and reverence it deserves. “Naturally, though, our long-suffering narrator can only arrive at this conclusion through a painful and arduous odyssey through Hell itself,” Stickles explained to Pitchfork. “This is a Titus Andronicus record, after all.” ‘(I’m) Screwed’ drops us into the deep end, the narrator trapped on all sides as his beliefs are tested. Check out the video by Ray Concepcion below:

The Will to Live will be released via Merge Records on 30th September and you can pre-order it now.

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