The Surge - Hirta - Inoria - Kira Lise

Photo - Pete Coombs

The Surge - Pretty Smile.

Hampshire/Dorset (England) based alt-rock outfit The Surge are back with their latest single “Pretty Smile”, a defiant, life-affirming track written by the band’s songwriter Pete Coombs. “Pretty Smile” is a song about resilience, choice, and forward motion. It speaks to the reality that life is rarely straightforward — but it’s how you respond to the knocks that truly matters. Rather than dwelling on what might have been, the track urges listeners to take risks, make decisions, and keep moving. Whether it’s stay or go, fight or flight, when all else fails, there’s always your smile.

Musically, “Pretty Smile” captures everything The Surge are becoming known for: sharp, song-driven writing, powerful vocal delivery, and energetic riffs that pull from post-punk, indie, alt-rock and old-school punk. It’s a sound built for the stage — urgent, emotive, and unfiltered.

Hailing from across the Hampshire and Dorset border, The Surge have spent the past year writing and recording, with 2026 set to mark the release of their second album, following on from 2023’s debut Amped. The band were also recognised as a Best Breakthrough Artist nominee at the 2024 Original Music Awards, underlining their growing profile on the UK independent scene.

Live, The Surge have shared stages with new wave legends The Vapors, punk originators The Members, Brazilian punk antagonists Porno Massacre, and Germany’s folk-punk favourites Mr Irish Bastard. Their touring history includes venues across Southampton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Brighton, Swansea and London, alongside festival appearances at Bestival, Music in the City, The Beggars Fair, Fazza Fest, NBQ Fest, and Barnstomper Festival in Dorset.

The Surge · Pretty Smile

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Photo - Ash Drummond

Hirta - Soft Peaks (Album).

"Hirta’s ‘Soft Peaks’ finds solace in the natural world and comforts through an intriguing map of familiar trailheads and newly chartered terrain. The debut official release from Scottish - American multi instrumentalist, Alistair Paxton, ‘Soft Peaks’ casts a windswept and lonely spell yet retains an air of optimism across its ten warm and desolate tracks. 

This album was self produced and recorded in 2025 in sessions split between the Hudson Valley town of Nyack, NY and rural Bovina in the Western Catskill mountains culminating in both vinyl and digital releases under Paxton’s own imprint, Half Painted Door.

Soft Peaks reveals layers of intricate acoustic fingerstyle guitar and plaintive drums under sparse and tasteful contemporary textures. A subtle and evocative blend of traditional folk voicings and indie rock charm which conjures fleeting nostalgia and offers some hopeful light in a dark time. Through songwriting that crafts propulsive repetition and embraces the power of restraint and economy, Paxton’s vocal harmonies remain unadorned and carry a poetic honesty while delivering elegiacal verses both timeless and universal."

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Inoria – Inside Out.

Copenhagen’s Inoria dive deep into the uncomfortable space between surrender and self-control on their new single “Inside Out.” Blending progressive rock textures with alternative and catchy rock sensibilities, the track unfolds slowly and deliberately, pulling the listener into a spiraling inner dialogue that feels both intimate and unsettling.

Built on brooding rhythms, restrained tension, and emotionally charged vocal lines, “Inside Out” explores the need for guidance, clarity, and release when everything feels misaligned. Repeated phrases like “Show me where I should be” and “Free my mind from me” echo like a mantra, reinforcing the song’s central struggle, the fight to escape your own mental loops while still craving direction from the outside world.

There’s a hypnotic push and pull throughout the track: moments of quiet vulnerability give way to heavier, more immersive sections that feel almost ritualistic. Fans of Tool, Opeth, and Soen will recognize that slow-burn intensity, where atmosphere matters just as much as power, and emotion is carried as much by space as by sound.

“Inside Out” positions Inoria as a band unafraid to sit in discomfort and let tension breathe. It’s introspective, cinematic, and deeply human, a track that doesn’t rush to resolve itself, but instead invites the listener to confront what’s happening beneath the surface.

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Kira Lise - Ignorance Is Bliss.

Indie alternative artist Kira Lise releases her first track of 2026, “Ignorance Is Bliss,” out today. Written during a period of intense anxiety, the song emerged as a raw cry for help, evolving into one of Kira's most powerful releases to date. The track recently won a major music competition in partnership with iHeartRadio and TikTok LIVE, highlighting its growing impact. impact. 
 
“Whenever I have a moment to connect with my emotions, great art happens — like this song,” says Kira. “'Ignorance Is Bliss' is full of bold instrumental moments, inspired by artists like Radiohead, Billie Eilish, and other alternative musicians. EMÆL adds his unique touch as a cellist, and Dan Adams' violin elevated the track even further, giving it depth and richness.”
 
The song showcases Kira's striking vocal range and layered production. While not fully mainstream, it perfectly captures the sound and vision she wants to create moving forward.
 
Kira has built a global following through live-streaming originals and covers on TikTok LIVE, becoming one of the platform's top creators. She was recently nominated for Live Creator of the Year at the inaugural TikTok Awards, served as a TikTok LIVE guest speaker at VidCon 2024, and performed at the Reeperbahn Festival in Germany with TikTok LIVE. She is also an endorsed artist for Shure Microphones at NAMM 2026 and has been featured across TikTok LIVE's Instagram and TikTok channels as one of the platform's faces.

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Alice Costelloe - Sam Paige - Violent Vickie - Izzi Stone - Odd Marshall

Alice Costelloe - Move On With The Year (Album).

London singer-songwriter Alice Costelloe releases her debut album 'Move On With The Year' via Moshi Moshi Records. With the album release comes the announcement of a new autumn headline tour, with new dates in Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, London and Bristol. To mark the album's release, Alice plays a stripped back in-store set at Rough Trade Denmark Street on 11th February, before headline shows in Huddersfield, Sheffield, Sidney and Sunderland later this month - and two sold-out London shows on 3rd and 4th March. 

Over the past year, Alice Costelloe has emerged as one of the UK’s most quietly commanding new songwriters. With endorsements from BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq, Craig Charles, Lauren Laverne, Nick Grimshaw, Nemone and Iggy Pop plus sustained praise from press tastemakers including The Guardian ("Riveting"), MOJO Magazine ("Moving solo debut of dark, surreal art-pop"), Loud And Quiet ("Remarkable"), DIY ("Fizzing with nostalgic warmth"), Wonderland, NME, CLASH, Dork, The Line of Best Fit and many more. Her growing profile has been mirrored on the road, with extensive UK and European touring that has seen her support Gengahr and Lael Neale on dates across the UK as well as joining Future Islands in Europe, alongside sold-out London headline shows of her own and appearances at key tastemaker festivals such as The Great Escape and Live At Leeds.

Rooted in the long shadow of her estranged father’s addiction, debut album 'Move On With The Year' captures the quiet work of unlearning and repair. Produced by Mike Lindsay (one half of LUMP with Laura Marling) in his Margate studio, the album is a fragile, fearless act of creative detangling - art-pop that listens closely to the noise left by parental addiction and emotional absence, then patiently rebuilds something strange and beautifully self-assured.

Moving beyond the cool precision of her indie-rock roots fronting Big Deal, she and Lindsay shaped a world of mellotron drones, fluttering flutes, warped synths and stumbling pianos, with sonic references sitting somewhere between Julia Jacklin, Cate Le Bon, Weyes Blood, Julia Holter, Joni Mitchell and Andy Shauf.

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Sam Paige - Growing Pains.

Sam Paige returns with “Growing Pains,” a raw and relatable country pop track that captures the overwhelming feeling of trying to keep up with life as it speeds forward. The song centers on the emotional whiplash of growing up, building a future, searching for direction, and realizing that life doesn’t always come with clear answers.

The chorus encapsulates this tension with vivid imagery, comparing growing pains to forces that are impossible to ignore: “Like a storm that won’t let you sleep / like a fire that burns all you see / like a match with that gasoline / growing pains, yeah they cut so deep."  These metaphors feel familiar yet effective, grounding the song in emotions many listeners will recognize. It’s a hook that lingers because it’s honest.

Musically, “Growing Pains” leans into a fresh sound with a hopeful, polished production that contrasts the weight of its lyrics. Paige’s vocal delivery carries a quiet vulnerability, allowing the lyrics to take center stage. There’s a sense that she’s letting listeners in on thoughts usually kept to herself, and that intimacy is one of the song’s greatest strengths.

The track closes on a particularly poignant note: “It ain’t any easier / with all the time that’s passing / in fact I got less answers now / and more questions I’m asking.” Rather than offering resolution, Paige embraces uncertainty. With “Growing Pains,” Sam Paige continues to prove she isn’t afraid to confront the uncomfortable parts of life.

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Violent Vickie - High.

"If Gary Numan, John Maus, and Fiona Apple had a baby, it might sound like Violent Vickie's HIGH—poppy synths and driving beats beneath sultry, commanding vocals. “HIGH” is a darkly seductive track celebrating human touch". It's been a while since we last featured Vickie, and High makes it a very welcome return to the riot grrrrl's gorgeous style of music!

Violent Vickie is a West Palm Beach, FL-based producer, synth player, and singer.  Formerly based out of Los Angeles, Violent Vickie blends the sounds of darkwave, synth-pop, post-punk, witch house, and riot grrrrl to create a spooky, grungy, danceable and epic sound with ethereal and tongue ’n cheek vocals that is all her own.  

Violent Vickie’s influences range from Crystal Castles and Grimes to Bjork and Bikini Kill to Siouxsie and The Banshees and Aphex Twin.  Violent Vickie’s songs have been remixed by Fragrance, Kontravoid  and she recently shared the stage with Stabbing Westward, Forever Grey, Assemblage 23, and Aurelio Voltaire and played Absolution Fest along with Glass Spells. Violent Vickie has also toured with Hanin Elias of Atari Teenage Riot and shared the stage with Pastel Ghost, Trans X, and Missing Persons.

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Izzi Stone - 9 Camels.

avantgarde pop artist Izzi Stone proudly presents her new single, “9 Camels”. Rooted in themes of love, resilience, and transformation, the new single is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Existing at the intersection of neo-soul, jazz-inflected R & B, and avantgarde music, Izzi Stone’s sound is defined less by genre than by atmosphere and intent. Adopting theatrical influences from predecessors such as David Bowie, Fiona Apple, and St. Vincent, Izzi’s songwriting casts unique and immersive experiences upon its audiences. Her new single, “9 Camels” focuses on the importance of connecting with yourself and others, in order to effectively navigate through periods of uncertainty and hardships. Rooted in jazz and avant-garde influences, Stone blends sultry restraint with forward optimism—creating an intimate, timeless, and powerful world.

Paired with the single’s release on digital platforms comes an exciting video set in the desert, featuring psychedelic visuals and computer-generated camels. As Izzi Stone serenades us throughout this landscape, we get a further taste of the power her creative psyche holds. Creating a simple, yet memorable scene, the imagery in the video helps mirror the overall motifs and themes that the track stands for.

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Odd Marshall - On My Way.

Odd Marshall shares “On My Way,” the latest preview of his sophomore album Seconds, out March 6. A laid-back, melodic rocker, "On My Way" provides a counterpoint to Odd Marshall's previous hard-driving single "Outta Here" by leaning into longing, distance, and the quiet ache of unfinished love.

Seconds expands Marshall’s sonic palette, blending indie rock, folk-rock, and alt-country while leaning into a distinctly ’90s-influenced sound. The album features Blind Melon guitarists Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn—who also produced and mixed the record—along with contributions from Foo Fighters keyboardist Rami Jaffee and Mathias Schneeberger of The Afghan Whigs.

Built around an unhurried groove, “On My Way” draws from real experience. While living in New York, Marshall entered into a relationship that was tested when he took a job aboard a ship traveling through the Panama Canal. A re-route around South America extended the journey by months, ultimately unraveling the relationship.

Still, Odd Marshall is happy with how "On My Way" commemorates the first meeting with the soon-to-be love of his life on a hot summer night in Brooklyn. "I begged her to have a drink with me and we popped into The Manhattan Inn for a pint of Guinness with a scoop of VanLeeuwen ice cream. I changed that to wine in the song for poetic license, but it's true that I believe she paid for it." He adds, "This is a part of my newer, simpler style of writing which came out of playing crowded bars where people really make you work for their attention. There's no better way to do that than a mid-tempo song with big fat cowboy chords."

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Samaistha - Mick Clarke - Beggar Weeds - Gabby Rivers

Samaistha - Upgrade Your DNA.

The 48-year-old music producer and composer Jürg Schwarzenbach, aka Samaistha, has a new release Upgrade Your DNA, a double single featuring a soothing ambient instrumental version as the B-side.

The vocal version on the A-side stands out with powerful, cinematic beats. They carry the piece, lending it tension and intensity. Expansive violin sounds convey emotional depth and connect the individual elements. Striking synthesizer sounds create a sense of space and openness within the soundscape.

The ambient version of Upgrade Your DNA on the B-side is significantly slowed down, completely forgoes beats and violins, and focuses instead on far-reaching synthesizer soundscapes. Conceived as meditation music, this version enables a calm, inward-focused listening experience with an impulse toward transformation.


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Mick Clarke - Blues Before Sunrise (Album).

British singer guitarist Mick Clarke began his career with Killing Floor, part of the British blues boom of the late 1960s and contemporaries of Free, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The band backed Texas blues guitar star Freddie King and toured with legends Howlin' Wolf and Otis Spann. The album "Killing Floor" was listed as one of Classic Rock Magazine's twenty top British blues albums of the period.

THE Mick Clarke Band was formed in the early 80s and toured extensively in Europe and the USA. Mick has appeared on numerous festivals with artists including Joe Bonamassa, Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher, and the Southern California Blues Society called him "One of the finest blues players to come out of England". 

Mick Clarke tells us: "Here's a collection of some recent blues releases and a few old favourites. My version of Elmore's 'Blues before Sunrise' is followed by John Lee Hooker's 'My Own Fault' - a song best known by BB King. (There's also a fabulous version by Otis Rush). I put a version of Wolf's 'Ain't Superstitious' out as a single a few weeks back - here's an alternative take. And then Arthur Crudup's classic 'That's All Right' - slightly remastered for this collection.

Otis Rush's 'All Your Love' and the evergreen 'Kansas City' keep the blues rollin'. My own song 'Purple Cat', about the club in Chicago where Little Walter developed his sound, is followed by Bill Broonzy's 'Banker's Blues' (with a nod to Rory Gallagher), and my tribute to the great 'Barbecue Bob'. And the collection rocks out with my version of the blues and country standard 'Crazy Arms'."

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Photo - Patrick O'Brien

Beggar Weeds - Graduating / Picolata.

Beggar Weeds will release Tragedy in U.S. History on February 20, 2026 via Strolling Bones Records. The 13-track career retrospective combines their 1988 5-song EP, six previously unreleased songs co-produced by Michael Stipe of R.E.M. & the filmmaker Jim McKay, as well as two bonus tracks. Beggar Weeds’ small catalog still sounds gloriously eccentric, familiar yet distinctive, subversive in its oddball vision of underground rock. The Jacksonville, FL trio were motivated by the offbeat and took inspiration from their favorite bands—the jangle of R.E.M., the almost-falling-apart-ness of the Replacements, the rumbling melodicism of Hüsker Dü—and combined them with hardscrabble country and rustic folk. 

Then they played it loud and fast. Their songs sound like only these three young men from the Sunshine State could have dreamed up. Met with early critical acclaim, Uncut magazine called the compilation “revelatory” in their 8/10 “Rediscovered” album of the month review, saying “As a band they were deeply odd and deeply Southern, grounded in punk and twang as though connecting the dots between the Allman Brothers and The Minutemen.” 
 
“We wanted to do something different, chase our own ideas,” says the band’s Adam Watson. “We were combining all of those things, punk but also pop and country and folk. I remember someone described us as the Everly Brothers on speed.” The trio quickly developed a reputation for rambunctious shows where anything could happen and often did. Opening for X, The Meat Puppets, the Dead Milkmen, and more, Beggar Weeds danced and shimmied constantly, switched instruments with each other, and emphasized volume, speed, and feral energy. 


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Gabby Rivers - What is the Problem? (EP).

East Anglian (England) based grunge-pop riser Gabby Rivers just released the hotly anticipated new EP What is the problem? The Suffolk solo artist has already built a reputation across the south of the UK, playing festivals and headline shows around East Anglia and London. Displaying her move to a move direct, alternative-rock sound, the new EP captures the progression in Gabby’s sound as she finds her identity as an artist. 

A punchy collection of tracks driven by crunching, distorted bass, fuzzy guitar lines, and gritty production, the EP delivers a compelling fusion of garage rock and grunge beneath Gabby’s catchy melodies and raw, honest lyricism. From the coming-of-age angst and explosive chorus of 'Dig Me' to the brooding grit of the title track and the slow-burn build of 'Lipstick Karma,' the seven-track release showcases Gabby’s talent for pairing commercial appeal with direct, guitar-led soundscapes. Anchored by inventive songwriting, sharp melodic instincts, and forward-focused energy, the EP feels urgent, confident, and creatively re-energized.

Speaking about the Ep Gabby explains: This EP has been a long time coming, after releasing my EP in 2023 I found it was full of different genres and I did not know where my creative direction was heading, I felt like I had a music identity crisis, I didn't know who I wanted to be as an artist, what I wanted to create or how I wanted to sound. I took most of 2024 off as an artist, I barely did any shows or any releases because I wanted to write, create and figure out what I wanted. Allowing that breathing space allowed me to create What is the problem? the EP I have always wanted to create, the sound I have always wanted to make, the artist I was inspired from growing up merged into an EP. It felt like the band and everyone involved understood the vision and ran with it. 

The EP is inspired by a time in my life where I got betrayed by a few people in a short space of time, I was blind sighted in relationships I thought were good for me but were actually ruining me. After long nights, conversations and a lot of poetry writing I walked away from it all. Although it was hard and upset me, creating this EP helped me cope. 

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molto morbidi - The Tammy Shine - Odd Marshall - Ruby James - Pranatricks - MONT LOSER

molto morbidi - To Watch the Ducks Go.

French artist Swan Wisnia, under her solo project molto morbidi, announces her second album Maybe Marcel for release on April 17th via No Salad Records, sharing a first look with single ‘To Watch The Ducks Go’. An experimental album forged in both tenderness and turmoil, combining art / weird pop and baroque pop, the album moves between the intimate and raw to the playful and inventive, creating a universe that is at once dark and hopeful. First single ‘To Watch The Ducks Go’, streaming now, reminds us that we are nothing but a passing moment in the infinite cycle of nature.

The album follows last year’s three track EP Chocolate Ashtray and molto morbidi’s 2024 debut album String Cheese Theory, which garnered support from BBC Radio 6’s Deb Grant, Tom Ravenscroft, Steve Lamacq, Amy Lamé and Gideon Coe, and featured UK alt-pop artist Ed Dowie and French improv legend Quentin Rollet.

Written and recorded between January and June 2025, her brand new offering emerged during a period of profound difficulty, as Wisnia’s mother was hospitalised following a severe stroke. Traveling frequently between Bordeaux and her home in Le Mans, Wisnia found solace in creating music, immersing herself in sound to process her emotions. “The only thing I was really able to do was make music. It would throw me into a universe of sound where I could focus on something I could control,” she says. “Oddly enough, I have really fond memories of that period, despite being psychologically quite fragile.” 

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The Tammy Shine - Speed Date.

We have the new solo single and video Speed Date by indiepop legend and lifer Tammy Ealom of the band Dressy Bessy. It's been 6 years since the last Dressy Bessy album, but this time Tammy is back under a new name The Tammy Shine with an album she wrote, recorded, and mixed all herself.

On February 20, 2026, one of indie rock’s most enduring and vibrant figures will reintroduce herself to the world. Tammy Ealom, best known as the snarling frontwoman and creative force behind Denver’s legendary Dressy Bessy, presents her debut solo album The Tammy Shine, Ok Shine Ok. Released via HHBTM Records, the album marks a pivotal moment in Ealom’s three-decade career. Ok Shine Ok is the first time she has taken complete command—writing, performing, engineering, producing, and mixing the record entirely on her own.

Fans of Dressy Bessy will still find the undeniable hooks and melodic sensibilities that are Ealom’s trademark. However, they will also discover a new depth—a vulnerability that comes from the singular approach and the confidence of a woman who has lived through the changing tides of the music industry and emerged even stronger.

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Odd Marshall - On My Way.

Odd Marshall shares “On My Way,” the latest preview of his sophomore album Seconds, out March 6. A laid-back, melodic rocker, "On My Way" provides a counterpoint to Odd Marshall's previous hard-driving single "Outta Here" by leaning into longing, distance, and the quiet ache of unfinished love.

Seconds expands Marshall’s sonic palette, blending indie rock, folk-rock, and alt-country while leaning into a distinctly ’90s-influenced sound. The album features Blind Melon guitarists Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn—who also produced and mixed the record—along with contributions from Foo Fighters keyboardist Rami Jaffee and Mathias Schneeberger of The Afghan Whigs.

Built around an unhurried groove, “On My Way” draws from real experience. While living in New York, Marshall entered into a relationship that was tested when he took a job aboard a ship traveling through the Panama Canal. A re-route around South America extended the journey by months, ultimately unraveling the relationship.

Still, Odd Marshall is happy with how "On My Way" commemorates the first meeting with the soon-to-be love of his life on a hot summer night in Brooklyn. "I begged her to have a drink with me and we popped into The Manhattan Inn for a pint of Guinness with a scoop of VanLeeuwen ice cream. I changed that to wine in the song for poetic license, but it's true that I believe she paid for it."

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Ruby James – Bumble Bee (feat. Rosie Flores).

“Bumble Bee” launches forthcoming album 'Call It Rock & Roll' with a fearless nod to the roots of rock and roll. Originally made famous by LaVern Baker in the mid-1950s, Ruby James reclaims the song with grit, groove, and modern swagger, transforming a vintage rhythm-and-blues burner into a high-voltage rock and roll statement.

The reinvention took shape when longtime collaborators locked into an unstoppable groove. Bassist Harmoni Kelley helped drive the track’s pulse, pushing the low end into fuzzed-out territory, while baritone guitar from David Jimenez added weight and shadow. The rhythm refuses to let go. The track truly took flight when guitar legend Rosie Flores stepped in. Rosie Flores brings a sonic sting into the groove and kicks the song into overdrive, earning her the nickname “The Red Hornet” inside Ruby’s inner circle.

Ruby and Rosie’s connection runs deep. The two first crossed paths in Austin more than a decade ago, sharing stages, residencies, and late-night sets at the Continental Club, where rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll collided nightly. Though they’d played countless shows together over the years, “Bumble Bee” marks their first true studio collaboration.

“I’ve always loved ‘Bumble Bee,’ and I’m still surprised by how many people have never heard it,” says James. “When I started recording again, my producer Kyle Crusham and I knew it could become something ferocious if we reimagined it. Once the groove locked in and Rosie stepped in, everything took flight. This felt like the perfect way to kick off a new chapter for me, with my mentor right there beside me.”

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Pranatricks - Courtenay’s Eyes.

Pranatricks returns today February 6, 2026 with Courtenay’s Eyes, a new indie alt-rock single arriving alongside an official video. The track follows Islands of the Sun and lands at a moment of real momentum, as anticipation continues to build for the forthcoming album Infiniteness—recently named one of Exclaim!’s 58 Most Anticipated Canadian Albums of 2026. 

Built on charging guitars and a steady sense of forward motion, Courtenay’s Eyes channels urgency without tipping into aggression. A looping, melodic scream weaves through the track as emotional texture, underscoring a song that grapples with empathy, judgment, and our shared humanity. Written in response to a formative moment tied to the artist’s community work in Courtenay, BC, the song reflects on how easily people are reduced to isolated moments instead of being seen as whole lives.

The accompanying video leans away from literal storytelling, favouring abstract, atmospheric imagery that centres internal experience—watching, feeling, and choosing compassion. By resisting spectacle or dramatization, the visuals echo the song’s central question and let the emotional weight linger.  Together, Courtenay’s Eyes pushes further into the emotional and sonic territory hinted at on Islands of the Sun, pointing toward a more urgent indie alt-rock edge while holding tight to the introspective core that defines Pranatricks’ work.

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MONT LOSER - Confessional.

The title track "Confessional" Mont Loser's first album out on April 17th via Géographie has been shared today. Finally, a band that lives up to its name. A deformed creature born from the depths of a late-night Parisian haze, half kamikaze, half blood-drunk bat: MONT LOSER invites you to dive headfirst into the void of a rock scene that always seems to rise from its ashes, when we sometimes wish it would stay dead.

Moving forward as if the outside world didn't exist, the Parisian trio staggers away from the flocks of retro-flavoured, nostalgia-marketed bands with some sort of drunken grace. 

MONT LOSER scooped up some grunge, noise rock, goth and industrial dregs to shake up a deliciously unruly bottom shelf cocktail. Chicago, Seattle, Belleville? 1980, 1991 or 2025? The time machine’s broken, the phone screens are cracked and the curtains drawn. Nothing more logical for a band born out of a post-COVID afterparty. Two dissonant guitars constantly at war, drums swinging between punk precision and post-hardcore violence, all carried by three voices merging into one chaotic choir.

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Would-be-goods - Austel - Alpha Pet - Spirited Followers - Kye Alfred Hillig

Would-be-goods - Tears For Leda.

It's a busy fortnight coming up for Would-be-goods. The third single from their new album 'Tears for Leda' comes out today Thursday (5 Feb), a retelling of a Greek myth as a garage band song. Then the album itself, 'Tears Before Bedtime' comes out on 13 Feb, having already received 4 stars in this month's Mojo.

Tears Before Bedtime is the sparkling new album by the Would-be-goods, Jessica Griffin’s band of pop adventurers. Since The Camera Loves Me, their cult classic 1988 debut for the legendary él Records, they have blazed a musical trail through indie guitar pop, with a garageband edge and forays into other territories - glam rock, tango, French chanson… The result is unique and timeless. 

The songs on Tears Before Bedtime balance delicacy and power. Perfect pop melodies are delivered in Jessica’s gorgeous and idiosyncratic voice. Her lyrics are intelligent and wry, wistful and witty. Every song tells a story, taking us on a journey through space and time, from belle époque Paris to a 1960s London biker café, from a riverbank in ancient Greece to a 1970s teenage bedroom. 

Listening to a Would-be-goods album is like wandering through a gallery of portraits. Innocence gives way to experience. Danger lurks amid the lights of the funfair in the 1950s carousel whirl of The Gallopers. The sinister Dr Love promises heaven but sends you down to hell, to the sound of a last dance in a smoky soul basement. A nymph meets a god in disguise in a garage-band take on a Greek myth (Tears for Leda). The Rose Tattoo is the tale of a doomed love in a sultry Southern state. Don't Come Crying To Me flames an ex-lover to the sound of Bollywood horns and shivery guitar. In Madame X a portrait painter vents his fury on a spoilt socialite beauty. The album closes with a sweetly jazzy lullaby (The Moon Doesn't Mind).

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Artwork - Artemis Szekir-Rigas

Austel - 30th Day.

Facing things head on, ‘30th Day’ sees Austel take back control. Powerful and compelling, the new single is a brooding response to the relentlessness of being drawn to the wrong people. Sharing more, Austel explained: “30th Day is about feeling tired of being drawn to bad things / people who hurt you. You know it’s a dead end, or a groundhog day of getting your hopes raised that this time it’ll be different, and you’re exhausted by the amount of space it’s taking up in your life.  While the song depicts quite a bleak situation, I think there’s power in naming what is causing you pain or holding you back. Once you see it for what it truly is, you can start to work out a way to overcome.”

Austel kicked off a brand new chapter with the release of ‘The Beach in December’ back in November. Cinemantic and soothing, the indie-folk offering was well received, Under The Radar premiered the track calling it ‘warm and intimate’ with ‘gorgeous stacked harmonies’ whilst Clash magazine described the track as ‘charming’ and commented on its ‘joyous innocence’. Today's new single ‘30th Day’ looks to be a significant follow up.

An accomplished singer, songwriter and producer, Austel’s extensive production work has seen her sound and talents continually expand over the years, honing her ability to create polished, indie-folk outputs that shine with an unmistakable texture and warmth. As she explores the folkier intimacies of the guitar in her newest project, she is developing a very personal sound that preserves a very spacious and open feeling. 

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Alpha Pet - Don't Be Shy.

Alpha Pet are a Stockholm-based rock band playing sharp, fast and fun post-punk with roots in late-70s punk and new wave. Their sound has been compared to everything from Swedish morning-TV grumble to Talking Heads and The Fall and the band have made a name for themselves with their energetic, unpredictable and loud live shows. After a run of “Come to Brazil!”-evoking releases, Alpha Pet are set to release their self-titled debut EP Alpha Pet on March 27 via Rama Lama Records.

The new single “Don't Be Shy” is a fitting opening statement for Alpha Pet's next musical chapter, an accomplished smorgasbord of sounds jammed together to form a melodic whole, led by the divine jestering of frontman Rocky 3000 soaring, aching vocals. The track features backing vocals from members of label mates Melby, Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes and Cat Princess. 

“I wanted to write a love song, and we did, but then I felt it needed something else. A twist,” says Alpha Pet vocalist Rocky 3000. “So it’s a love song, with a twist. But it’s not about cheating, like my fiancée thought.” 

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Spirited Followers - Returning.

Cardiff experimental folk group Spirited Followers introduce “Returning,” their debut single on BWGiBWGAN, marking the first recorded release in the label from a band already earning a reputation as one of Wales’ most immersive and powerful live acts. Blending ancient song traditions with exploratory textures and contemporary experimentation, the track reveals a gentler, meditative side to their expansive sound - reframing themes of death through warmth, acceptance and spiritual calm.

Cardiff-based experimental folk group Spirited Followers release “Returning,” their debut single on BWGiBWGAN, marking a significant moment for a band already gaining recognition as one of the most distinctive and powerful new live acts in Wales.

Known for immersive and emotionally charged performances, Spirited Followers have built their reputation through live shows where ancient musical lineages meet contemporary experimentation. Their sound feels both deeply rooted and quietly searching, carrying music passed down through generations while remaining unmistakably new.

Drawing from Appalachian folk, Indian classical music, Greek traditions, post-rock, and avant-garde practices, the band’s expansive sound is shaped by an unusual lineup of dulcimer, harmonium, bouzouki, cello, synths, and drums. “Returning” explores a gentler, more serene side of their work, inspired by Christian Appalachian hymns reflecting on death and reframing the subject through warmth, beauty, and acceptance.

Spirited Followers · Returning

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Kye Alfred Hillig - Our Remaining Pig.

Tacoma, Washington songwriter Kye Alfred Hillig returns with “Our Remaining Pig,” the second single from his upcoming album The All-Night Costume Company, out March 4, 2026. Arriving yesterday February 4, the track pushes deeper into Hillig’s emotional terrain, pairing alternative-country and indie rock with a writer’s instinct for metaphor, restraint, and uncomfortable honesty. Where the album’s first single reintroduced Hillig’s voice, “Our Remaining Pig” begins to reveal the stakes. 

Hillig has spent more than two decades rooted in the Puget Sound music scene, balancing songwriting with the realities of work, community, and long stretches away from the spotlight. Across nine solo albums, he’s developed a reputation for sharp melodies and lyrics that refuse to look away from difficult truths. His songs often sit at the intersection of personal reckoning and shared experience, finding meaning not in resolution, but in saying the hard thing plainly. Fans of The Jayhawks, Neil Young, Uncle Tupelo, Father John Misty, Kevin Morby, MJ Lenderman, and early Wilco will recognize the lineage, even as Hillig’s voice remains distinctly his own.

“Our Remaining Pig” takes its title and emotional core from an image that surfaced during Hillig’s time in art therapy. “I drew a man on his family farm wading across a river toward the final living pig, knowing he had to slaughter it,” Hillig explains. “You can tell he doesn’t want to do this, but sometimes the hard thing is exactly what must be done.” In the song, that image becomes a parallel for a relationship at a breaking point, a moment where avoidance only deepens the damage. “Sometimes couples just need to say the honest and painful thing,” he adds. “No one benefits from avoiding the suffering that comes with growth.”

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