Last month we previewed Anniversary & More Songs About Love, the deluxe version of Abigail Lapell‘s recent full-length which expands the album with eight additional songs. Alongside more intimate, acoustic versions of tracks from the original, Lapell also offers a handful of additional songs, and has now released a cover of Tame Impala’s Feels ‘Like We Only Go Backwards’ as part of the package. A minimal, electrified version of which mines the song for all of its stark weight, adding yet another dimension to the diverse picture of love and relationships which the album brings to life.

Anniversary & More Songs About Love will be released via Outside Music on 2nd May. Pre-order it now from the Abigail Lapell Bandcamp page.

Casper Skulls – Numbing Mind

The new album from Sudbury/Toronto indie rock outfit Casper Skulls, Kit-Cat is the product of a band confident enough to spread their wings. From the moody ‘Spindletop‘ and energetic ‘Roddy Piper’ to bittersweet Dylan-esque narrative ‘Dying in Eight Verses‘, each single offered a different style and set of influences, and culminated in a mosaic-like album able to confront a wide range of themes. With the release out now via Next Door Records, Casper Skulls have shared final single ‘Numbing Mind’ to further deepen the picture, exploring the vast media landscape of distractions into which we can retreat from contemporary existence. The song is itself a microcosm of the wider Casper Skulls style, presenting a collage of references (Ms. Rachel, Bob Ross, Macho Man, Rugrats, South Park, ASMR and Antique Roadshow and more) to paint the vast network of small comforts to which we turn.

Watch the video directed and edited by Bosmo below:

Kit-Cat is out now via Next Door Records and you can get it from the Casper Skulls Bandcamp page.

Classic Trucks – Oil

“Pairs a rich, warm sound with Jarman’s approachable, near-spoken vocals and a dark, distressed lyrical style. But instead of playing as a contradiction, the resulting track looks to solve the concern at its heart in real time, fashioning a cure to the complaint itself.” So we wrote of ‘Letting In Too Much Light’ by Classic Trucks last month, the first single from the new solo venture of Langkamer‘s Josh Jarman which introduced the empathetic nature of the project. With EP Century Songs set for release in late May, Classic Trucks are back with new single, ‘Oil’. A meditation on some of the grandest existential questions—free will, nature vs. nurture, the apparent futility of life—housed in a bright, pop-inflected brand of folk, again highlighting Jarman’s ability to approach difficult subjects without being overwhelmed by their weight.

Gay Meat – Champaign Ill

The recording project of producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Karl Kuehn, Gay Meat has made a name in recent years with a distinctive blend of self-deprecation and sincerity, something embodied by 2022 EP Bed of Every. Mixing indie pop, rock and emo sensibilities, the release clocked in at barely thirteen minutes but managed to evoke a compelling inner world all the same. Recent single ‘Champaign Ill’ builds upon the style, a wistful lo-fi ode to the ways in which people change over time, as well as those who stay the same despite everything. Again the tone possesses a wry edge, but one which does nothing to limit the unguarded earnestness at its heart.

Gum Parker – Crocodile

“Draws on the considerable DIY history of its members to create good old-fashioned indie rock.” That’s how we described the debut album from Portland, Maine outfit Gum Parker, with singles ‘Two Subarus‘ and ‘Hive‘ packing a real punch despite the vastly different moods which underpinned them. With the album out now via Repeating Cloud, the outfit have shared final single ‘Crocodile’, and the song again embraces the chaotic, irrepressible energy of the do-it-yourself aesthetic to find joyous momentum within ordinary life. “Lately I’m trying to just write down phrases or bits of language that I like and scrape together a song from them,” as lead Galen Richmond explains. “It seems to have worked out for this joyful mess. The chorus is sorta a half-joke about how I couldn’t write a chorus for this one.”

Jangus Kangus – No Future In This

Christened by Emerson Dameron as “LA’s foremost purveyor of imagist garage surf,” Jangus Kangus is making a name with a sound at once hazy and raw, with debut album Fortune Cookie highlighting how evocative and playful such a contradictory style can be. Lead Jasmine Sankaran is joined by Steph Anderson (keys/backing vocals), Antonio White (lead guitar/backing vocals), Dan Perdomo (drums) and Ryan Kellis (bass), and together the band eschew genre convention in favour of instinct experimentation. Single ‘No Future In This’ serves as an ideal introduction, a track which preserves some of the DIY spirit of the project’s previous releases yet comes wrapped in a golden retro hue.

LEYA – Corners (Chanel Beads Rework)

Last year we wrote about ‘Corners’ by LEYA, a single from their EP I Forget Everything on NNA Tapes which displayed how harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz create “evocative and ambiguous” soundscapes, as we put it, which “explore the avenues open to us in the face of catastrophe.” Like much of LEYA’s work, the song occupied a strange space between medieval and futuristic tones, feeling like both a throwback and a promise of something new. Now rising pop favourite Chanel Beads has reworked the track to further deepen this contradictory tension. With additional layers of lush sonic textures and extra pop polish, the new interpretation serves as a heightened version of the original, playing like the interstitial space between the Now and the Then with all the instinctive longing left intact.

Watch the self-directed video starring model Mariah Morvant below:

‘Corners (Chanel Beads Rework)’ is out now via NNA Tapes and available from Bandcamp.

LUCKY – Traveler

LUCKY are a new Bay Area supergroup featuring Half Stack‘s Peter Kegler, Andrew St James, Marika Christine and Zach Elsasser (Affectionately). A slice of upbeat country rock that also provides the obligatory shadow to its light, debut single ‘Traveler’ gives an indication of what to expect from the project. A song full of backward looking despite its forward motion, resulting in a mood at once wistful and affirming. Produced and mixed by Joe Santarpia (Mac DeMarco) and mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk (Kevin Morby, Woods, Rose City Band), there’s real talent behind the project too, making for a polished, accomplished sound that retains its authenticity via a subtle lo-fi edge.

Maryse Smith – Freedom

This May sees the release of Transience, the new full-length from Massachusetts songwriter Maryse Smith, via Ghost Mountain Records, and latest single ‘Freedom’ both introduces the album’s warm folk rock sound and furthers the thematic resonance of the its title. It’s a song about regaining a sense of ownership and agency in the face of apparent restriction, placing trust in the transience of any condition in the way all longing must. Fittingly, the track is the product of one such process of overcoming. “‘Freedom’ was written upon returning from a festival that friends put on every year in Vermont,” as Smith explains. “I didn’t play that year, I was feeling bummed about being in a long writing dry-spell and couldn’t bear the thought of playing songs I had written years prior. But I felt so inspired after seeing so much good music I pretty much came home, sat at the piano and wrote this. I remember feeling afterwards, on a deep level, that the dry spell was broken and it was.”

Steel Wool – Fading

What the band describe as “a collision of sound experiments wearing the borrowed work uniform of rock music,” the self-titled debut EP from LA shoegaze outfit Steel Wool brings together the varying tastes of each of its four members. Shoegaze fuzziness meets not only its natural bedfellows in dream pop and indie rock, but also folk and screamo too, resulting in something that uses familiar ingredients in a fresh and innovative way. “The band has always been more of a sonic game of tug-of-war than a regiment in lockstep,” Steel Wool continue. “Stepping outside these orthogonal backgrounds in search of common ground, we’ve ended up somewhere that isn’t quite home turf for any of us.” Opener ‘Fading’ is the best place to start, a hazy and soaring dream pop song that eventually boils over in a snarl of feedback and wailing vocals.

Yuno – Massive

Having won acclaim with 2018 EP Moodie and a number of subsequent singles, Jacksonville-based pop visionary Yuno is releasing debut full-length Blest this May with Sub Pop. An artist in constant flux, Yuno has moved from skate punk and Johnstonian anti-folk to downbeat pop across his career to date, and the new album not only continues this evolution but pushes the sound to its most expansive, inventive spaces to date. Latest single ‘Massive’ embodies the sound’s widescreen richness, pairing languid pop confidence with fuzzy rock sensibilities to create a rueful backdrop for what is a reflection on the passing of time.

Watch the video directed and Edited by Yuno himself below:

Blest will be released on the 16th May via Sub Pop and you can pre-order it now.

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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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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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