Nick Barker and the Reptiles - Tommy Keyes - Malena Smith - Great Lakes - At Baron Lane - Winona Oak

Nick Barker and the Reptiles - Blood Nose.

Melbourne rock veterans Nick Barker and the Reptiles are back with a blistering new single, ‘Blood Nose,’ out now via Golden Robot Records. A raw, riff-driven track soaked in 70s-style swagger, 'Blood Nose’ delivers a punch - both musically and thematically. 

Written by Nick Barker, the track was inspired by a story he read about a social media influencer whose carefully curated world came crashing down. “‘Blood Nose’ can mean a lot of things - a real one, a loss in battle, or just a humiliating moment,” Barker explains. “This one’s about the last two. All kinds of ways to take damage.” 

With its stripped-back production and live-to-tape energy, ‘Blood Nose’ captures the band's signature no-frills approach - loud, loose, and loaded with grit. “We had the riff, the idea, and just went for it, live in the room. Not much to it. We love it,” Barker says. 

‘Blood Nose’ is the first new music from the band in over a decade and marks a thunderous return to form. Fans can stream the track now on all major platforms.

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Tommy Keyes - Lucky Day.

The second single to be taken from the new album, Lucky Day is a funky song on the subject of scam phone calls. Tommy Keyes was the keyboard player for Sidewinder, a mainstay of the Dublin rock scene in the late 1970s, and wrote many of their most popular songs.   

Nearly 40 years later, after a career outside music that left no time for gigging, he returned with a repertoire of great songs that defy categorisation.  Rock?  Pop? Blues?  “It’s 1970s singer-songwriter music”, he says, “because that’s what I am.” His biggest chart success to date came in July 2022 when Suzi Quatro (Teenage Discos ’73) hit No 1 in the overall iTunes chart (all genres).  This Is the Song We Were Singing gave him another iTunes No 1 in the pop chart is February 2024.

Recorded with some of Ireland’s greatest session musicians, his albums are very different from anything else that’s being released these days, but sample some of the songs and you are guaranteed to be hooked.

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Malena Smith - 27 in Maine (EP).

The summer of Malena's 27th birthday was a defining one. She left her job to pursue music full-time, took her first solo road trip to commemorate that leap of faith, and made the life-changing decision to stop drinking. Just before the turn of the season, she began writing songs again, and 27 in Maine was born. 

The EP captures that coming of age as an adult moment: the clarity of "18," the internal tug-of-war of "Betray Myself," the yearning of "Maybe," the stillness and uncertainty of "Paralyzed," and the realization of "27 in Maine (The Ride)." "It felt like my puzzle pieces were beginning to find their places," Malena says, but the number of pieces was indefinite."

Produced by Brian Owens, and featuring engineers Jay Newland (Norah Jones' Come Away With Me) and Boo Mitchell (Royal Studios, Memphis), 27 in Maine bridges pop, folk, soul, and jazz. It's a seamless reflection of Malena's own genre-fluid voice.

Beyond its sonic beauty, the EP carries heartfelt stories at every corner. Following singles "18," "Betray Myself," "Maybe," and "Paralyzed," the full EP arrives as Malena's debut declaration as a storytelling artist, a reflection of her growth and her voice. "My hope is that people who need these songs the most will hear them," she says. "And that anyone who connects with them knows they're not alone."

Malena Smith · Maybe

Malena Smith · Paralyzed (feat. Jack Pordea) - Single

Malena Smith · 18

Malena Smith · Betray Myself

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Great Lakes - Don’t Swim Too Close (Album).

Great Lakes’ Ben Crum returns with a fantastic new album, Don’t Swim Too Close. Over 25 years and eight records, Crum has built a reputation for sharp songwriting and interesting stylistic shifts. Don’t Swim Too Close is no exception, as Crum draws from a classic rock tradition, echoing both the Americana spirit of Neil Young and The Band and the proto-indie rock of Television and the Velvet Underground. 

Immediately accessible, its songs land with the ease of lived-in classics. Themes of empathy and regret (“Carry the Message”), mental health struggles (“Don’t Swim Too Close”), disillusionment (“Meant to Fly”), and the lone journey of the writer (“On the Way Back”) weave through the record. But this isn’t a bleak listen. Crum’s dry, gallows humor bubbles up throughout, balancing heaviness with wit. 

He’s the kind of writer who can sing, “the future’s out there, waiting like an open grave,” and leave you smirking instead of sinking—or deadpan, “there’s nothing sexy about Spread Eagle, Wisconsin, or Tight squeeze, Virginia.” The characters in Crum’s songs are soul-searching, making for a compelling and thought-provoking listen. But there’s tenderness too: “Seeing Through Her” is a love song without pretense, while “Song for the Old Man” pays moving tribute to Crum’s late father. The closing track, “Are We Here Accidentally,” takes on existential purpose—or the lack thereof—in the face of life’s mundane demands: “there’s always someone on the phone / always someone we’re supposed to owe / well, I guess, if you say so.”

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At Baron Lane - The Cause (Album).

At Baron Lane is a four-piece indie band based between Zurich and Lachen, Switzerland. Since celebrating the release of their debut album in Paradise in 2019 at Amboss Rampe in Zurich, the band has continuously refined their songwriting and tested it live at countless shows. The quartet has performed at renowned venues such as Schüür Luzern, Exil Club Zurich, and Werk21 at Dynamo Zurich. With their single Future-Men, released in June 2025, the band gained their first airplay on various indie radio stations—both in Switzerland (including Kanal K, Radio Lora, Radio4tng, and Radio15) and internationally (including RTA Music [Italy], Eastcoast FM [USA], and Radiofabrik [Austria]).

Throughout the album, the band explores a wide range of musical influences. The catchy, pop-infused chorus of Right Hand Man is already in rotation on Radio15. The Beatles-inspired ballad Change begins with gentle vocals over warm piano chords, builds into an anthemic saxophone solo, and has already aired on Radio Rocher.

Cult is a rocking crowd favorite, where various characters describe how they were recruited by Lenny, all wrapped in a sea-shanty-inspired chorus. Don’t miss the Swiss-German intro of Chinotto am Meer, which leads into a high-energy saxophone solo.

In the gospel-tinged Sunday Shoes and the indie-pop track Faster (with Bossa Nova influences), it almost feels like Lenny might truly change the world. But the movement soon loses momentum. The jazzy Follow the Hypebeast delivers sharp critique, and in the psychedelic progressive-rock track The Moon is the Answer, even the revolutionary himself loses the strength to pursue his goals.

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Photo - Lamia Karic

Winona Oak - Do You Hate Me Now.

Swedish singer-songwriter Winona Oak embarks on a new era today with her powerful new single ‘Do You Hate Me Now’ out now via Nettwerk. Winona released her EP ‘Salt’ this spring, which was a poignant personal documentation of her physical and emotional states. Throughout this year, she has been working on new music and a progression in her raw and unvarnished sound, whilst still writing about the highs and lows of life; loss and repair, heartbreak and love, resistance and patience. 
 
With her new single ‘Do You Hate Me Now’, she introduces a brand-new era of her music. The song is a cinematic and heartfelt ballad, opening delicately with atmospheric piano before building into an epic chorus that lets her emotive voice shine. 
 
Winona says, “This song lives in that fragile space between love and goodbye – when you’re still holding onto the good memories even as the bad ones start to weigh more. You remember the warmth, the way it once felt safe – but now the air feels heavier, the silence sharper. It’s about realizing love shouldn’t feel like walking on glass, or like losing yourself a little more each day. It’s knowing you’re not walking away to hurt them, but because staying would mean losing the last pieces of yourself you still recognise. So, you take one last look, one last breath, and you leave – not because you stopped loving them, but because something in you finally believes there’s a softer, truer kind of love wating for you somewhere.”


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Paula Kelley - ALEIA - Jont - Winterpills

Paula Kelley - Party Line.

On Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out Paula Kelley explores her reverence for the dark edges of pop music, crafting a deeply personal song cycle informed by her career as a musician, songwriter and arranger. Channelling some of her most treasured pop-noir classics by Big Star, Colin Blunstone and Judee Sill, the songs on her first album in almost 20 years are filled with heart-wrenching melodies and layer-upon-layer of lush, kinetic instrumentation. 

Despite her membership in Drop Nineteens and her career writing and arranging pop music, Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out does not retread past glories, but rather shapes the often psychodramatic tales in Blinking’s songs into a singular and personal vision of indie pop music. Here’s what she has to say about first single “Party Line”:

When the song came to me it presented nearly fully formed—a pedaling bass line, a four part vocal harmony, an expansive soundscape. Sometimes songs sound great in your head but then don’t translate well into reality. I was lucky with this one. As I was recording part upon part, it felt as though the song was writing itself. It’s a dreamy song about dreams—not the kind that come during sleep, but rather wishes, anxieties, projections—as a way to work through and reconcile an unhappy past.

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Photo - Stephanie Senior

ALEIA - Public Humiliation (EP).

Perth/Boorloo songwriter ALEIA unveils her debut EP ‘Public Humiliation’ today Thursday, November 6, a body of work that captures the bittersweet aftermath of love with rare honesty and grace. Layering delicate folk textures with dream-pop ambience, ALEIA reflects on the messiness of heartbreak and the hardening that comes from being so exposed.

It was just this May that ALEIA made her debut, introducing her unmistakable voice through a series of deeply personal singles that have quickly shown the depth of her songwriting. Her first release, ‘Had Your Fun’, arrived as a haunting, indie/alt-pop number led by the piano that peeled back the layers of post-breakup denial and self-deception. It was followed by ‘Pretty When I Cry’, a gut-wrenching ballad built on soft guitar, sparse percussion, flourishes of delicate electric guitar and layers of harmonies, capturing the desperation of loving someone who cannot meet you halfway. 

Then came ‘Public Humiliation’, the title track released in October, exposing the messy and often humiliating side of modern love. Built on a ghostly guitar and layered vocals, the track unfolds like a confession, delicate yet deliberate. These songs form the opening half of the EP, leading into the devastatingly tender ‘Holy Water’ and its raw accompanying live version. Like it was recorded in an empty cathedral, the spacious arrangement features warm piano, softly bowed strings, carefully layered guitars, and a haunting choir that surrounds ALEIA in aching harmony. The choir's body percussion anchors the song’s slow build, giving the track a heartbeat as the lingering lyrics, "Holy Water, Devil's mouth, you could only spit me out", are chanted to close the EP out.     

Across its five tracks, ALEIA lays bare the fragile balance between love and self-worth, confronting the humiliation that lingers beneath heartache and the grief that comes with it all. ALEIA shares: "‘Public Humiliation’ is an EP I wrote after being jaded with love. I was newly single with my frontal lobe fully developed and realising I had only experienced toxic long-term relationships, painful situationships, and a nightmarish uncommitted life of casual dating. I want people to find comfort in this album the next time they find themselves anxiously attached to a situationship who isn’t messaging them, after a breakup with a narcissistic ex, or when single life has turned sour." 

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Jont - Let's Just Be Friends.

From the quiet corners of a Nova Scotia night, Jont's "Let's Just Be Friends" emerges as a tender, nocturnal meditation on love and truth – a song that drifts between dreamy romanticism and grounded self-awareness. Vulnerable and timeless, it’s a story of connection that was perhaps always destined to burn bright and fade, leaving behind the bittersweet beauty of understanding.

"Late at night, sat up in bed with my guitar, is how some of my best songs have come," Jont shares. "Maybe it was always thus for songwriters – Cohen, Dylan – the muse sitting beside them as the world sleeps. And with my cats Oscar and Buttons beside me, I can be found there too, up late, lights low, guitar in my lap, writing something that's sprung out of me without warning and demanding my attention."

"You don't have to be a genius to work out it's a love song," he continues. "And an autobiographical one at that. Sincere too in its message – or maybe not sincere in the desire to stay as just friends. Just true in what it says about what happens when you don't." What follows is a song suspended in that liminal space between longing and surrender. "Right now the world is asleep, it's just you and me counting sheep, we can't afford to miss a beat, or no-one'll know how many there have been…" Jont sings in the chorus – a lyric that captures the fleeting, dizzying joy of new connection, even as the verses quietly predict its impermanence.

"Sometimes it seems the songs know before I do how things are going to go," Jont reflects. "But we haven't learnt the lesson until we've had enough of the pain. And though over the years the pain might have seemed almost too much to bear, it has also led directly to more fruitful evenings — sat up late at night, guitar in lap, as emotions alchemise and dissolve into a subtle and radiant joy."

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Winterpills - Lean In The Wind.

The critically acclaimed Massachusetts quintet Winterpills returns with their first album in nine years. This Is How We Dance deepens their catalog of elegant chamber pop that’s “haunting…downright glorious when the harmonies start, as crisp and shining as crystal” (The Washington Post). 

Consummate masters of the slow burn, Winterpills have nurtured a singular aesthetic over the course of their 20 years together: lush and often gritty instrumentation, poetic and vulnerable lyrics, celestial harmonies, and cinematic arrangements that stealthily pull you in. 

Emerging from the hiatus of the pandemic, Winterpills dove hearts-first into crafting the album's 12 songs, in a string of inspired creative sessions in the band's living rooms and basements. The resulting album feels at once personal and universal, and showcases the evolution of a band still restless and exploring new ways to collaborate. Teaming up with producer Dave Chalfant––who had a production role in the band's first 2 albums––brought the new record full circle. 

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Øyunn - Hector Gannet - Night Swimming - debdepan

Photo - Helge Brekke

Øyunn - I Know U Can Do It (Album).

Following a summer of festival appearances including Roskilde — drummer, rapper, vocalist and genre-defier, Øyunn is pleased to present her electrifying debut studio album ‘I Know U Can Do It’, a powerful blend of breakbeats, rap, raw honesty and soaring vocals, which is being released via Copenhagen-based label Midnight Confessions.

With her dynamic range and unmistakable sound — groove-driven energy and lyrical openness — Øyunn delivers an extroverted yet emotionally nuanced record that pulses with self-reflection and fearless vulnerability. Throughout the album, Øyunn proves herself a fearless songwriter with a sharp ear for catchy melodies with an edge — each track standing strong on its own while forming a compelling whole.

Co-produced by Øyunn and Brian Batz and recorded over four years between Copenhagen, Malmö, and Aarhus, the album is a deeply personal creative vision, with Øyunn leading on drums and vocals. She is joined by longtime collaborators Jens Mikkel Madsen on bass and Kasper Staub on synths, and the result is a warm, organic sound shaped by a tight, intuitive band.

Behind the name Øyunn is Siv Øyunn Kjenstad, a diverse artist born in Norway but now based in Copenhagen. She released a live album ‘Aspects’ in 2023 which was originally a film, performance and concert created for Ultima Festival. The album led to Øyunn winning ‘New Jazz Name of the Year’ at the Danish Music Awards 2024. She is also known for being the touring drummer for Danish indie legends Efterklang, as well as drumming for Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Frahm & Guldimund.

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Vision Impact Photography

Hector Gannet - The Jetty's End.

Northeastern masters of ancient-and-modern folk and rock Hector Gannet make a compelling return with their new double A-side single, out now on 12-inch etched vinyl and digital. Hector Gannet are currently working on their third album. They’re set to accompany it with a range of dates in 2026 – from the local (an already-sold-out 600-capacity night in North Shields), to the national and the international, including dates in Belfast in January and the SXSW festival in Texas in March. Hector Gannet live shows vary between full band performances and Aaron appearing as Hector Gannet as a solo act.

Admired by music maniacs from Chris Packham to Sam Fender and acclaimed as “North Shields’ answer to Crazy Horse” (Uncut), the literate, dreadnought-passionate words and music of Tyneside group Hector Gannet have built through two previous albums. There have been live dates with artists from Elbow and Sea Power to Lindisfarne and Richard Thompson – plus massive shows with Sam Fender at the vast Northeastern shrine that is Newcastle United’s St James’ Park ground. All this now culminates in the exhilarating and ambitious dimensions of new double A-side single “The Jetty’s End” / “Until My Bonnie Can Be Revived”. These moving clarion calls will be followed by the third Hector Gannet album, in 2026.

The jetty of “The Jetty’s End” is a very specific structure in North Tyneside, dilapidated but rich in atmosphere – an age-old “hailing station” where an official would stand and hail passing ships, recording their cargo and destination. This track sees Hector Gannet add church bells, brass and a youth choir to a song that explores Northeastern place and memory. All this is transformed into a gorgeous metaphorical wash, a song that brims with a universal sense of wonder. A crescendo is fired on by lyrics that take in human history, human connection and our devotional rituals – prayer books, work, war, the sea. And not forgetting the cormorants perched on the jetty – prehistoric creatures, their wings drying in heraldic repose, like birds at the end of the world.

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Photo - Derek Bremner

Night Swimming - Submarine.

Bath (England) dream-pop band Night Swimming today announce their signing to Venn Records and share new single ‘Submarine’ - produced by longtime collaborator Peter Miles (TORRES, Orla Gartland) and mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive. The new single is accompanied by a video directed by Matthew Deeley, and arrives ahead of a UK headline tour this month, before the band join Miki Berenyi (of pioneering UK shoegazers Lush) on select dates this winter.

Their 2024 debut EP 'No Place To Land' cemented them as a compelling addition to the country's new wave of dream-pop / shoegaze acts - drawing admirers from some of the genre’s original icons. Dream-pop at its most haunted and tactile, 'Submarine' unfolds with a quiet intensity - a slow build of layered guitars, hypnotic rhythms and restrained urgency. Meg Jones’ vocal moves like a signal through static - “Undone by nights that gleam and glean / strange how it’s always here waiting,” she sings, capturing the song’s suspended state between memory and reality.

Speaking on the release of new single 'Submarine', lyricist Meg Jones said: "‘Submarine’ is about loss - the song likens it to feeling as though you’re submerged at the bottom of the ocean, unable to focus fully on what is happening around you. It grapples with the shock of feeling as though your world has fallen out from under you, and finding metaphorical shards from the wreckage which trigger surges of grief (when life seemed to have more meaning). It reflects on how you feel as though you are constantly living somewhere between reality and this underwater realm, and the waves of emotion are always waiting for you when you least expect them. It also comments on how people who have experienced loss will often notice it in others."

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debdepan - Ghost.

With their sophomore EP Lovers & Others arriving November 28th, Margate duo debdepan are building unstoppable momentum. Having already delivered the cyclical intensity of "Habit" and the raw aggression of "The Girl", the pair now reveal their most emotionally complex offering yet — "Ghost", out today November 5th via Silent Kid Records.

At first listen, "Ghost" feels like uncharted territory — a slower, more melodic moment reminiscent of Florence and the Machine's atmospheric grandeur. But just as you settle into its deceptive softness, the track pivots sharply into something unmistakably debdepan: edgy, hard-hitting, and deliciously sleazy. This sonic bait-and-switch perfects the push-pull dynamic the duo are rapidly becoming known for, proving they're just as dangerous when they whisper as when they scream.

"Oh, where did you go? We weren't exclusive but 6 months and then you Ghost!?" the duo lament. This emotional journey is central to the track's architecture — beginning with slight hopefulness before slowly turning dark as insecurity creeps in, culminating in a chorus that feels like a total release of pent-up emotion. "This song had to feel like a journey," the band explains. "It needed a big fat pop chorus to juxtapose the dark and miserable verses."

Recorded with engineer Mike Collins in Ramsgate, "Ghost" benefits from his inspired production choices. "Mike had a wicked idea to layer a bunch of guitars in the middle 8 to really build some tension," the duo shares. The result is a track that balances delicate vulnerability with explosive catharsis, showcasing debdepan's evolving mastery of sonic contrasts.

The accompanying music video offers a playful, Halloween-inspired counterpoint to the track's stark emotional reality. Shot, produced, and edited entirely by the duo across various Margate locations, it features them dressed as ghosts in delightfully DIY fashion—complete with a visible drone controller peeking out beneath one costume. This quirky, self-made approach perfectly captures their friendship-turned-band chemistry: creative, unpretentious, and utterly committed to having fun while making music.

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Amber Hotel - Pacifica - Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice - Cherry i

Amber Hotel - Midnight’s Echo.

Enter Amber Hotel. Still flickering, still rising, from the darker corners of modern-day Chicago. If Digital Ghost haunted the wires of broken connection, and Shadowed Face forced you to stare into the mirror you’d rather avoid, then Midnight’s Echo is the sound of being swallowed whole by the dark itself. A song of corridors without exits, whispers without faces, and time slipping through your hands like shattered glass.

This is not comfort. It’s hypnosis. The guitars circle like restless shadows, the bass drags like chains across midnight floors, and the voice drifts between confession and surrender — pulling you deeper with every line. “Every breath feels like a crime / We’re just ghosts against the time.”

Post-punk and darkwave DNA runs through its veins — echoes of Lebanon Hanover, The Cure, She Wants Revenge, Boy Harsher — but warped into Amber Hotel’s own fever dream. Brooding, cinematic, electric, and alive. Midnight’s Echo is chapter four of Amber Hotel’s descent. Another door unlocked. Another step further into the unlit world that waits behind it.

TCBYML · Amber Hotel - Midnight's Echo

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Pacifica - In Your Face (Album).

Formed in Buenos Aires by Inés Adam and Martina Nintzel, Pacifica have been on a fast, furious rise since transforming their bedroom YouTube covers into a fully-fledged global phenomenon. Blending the gritty immediacy of early-2000s garage rock with the swagger of post-punk and the emotional punch of ‘90s alt, the duo have built a devoted following and a reputation for blistering live shows that channel friendship, chaos, and catharsis in equal measure.

Now, Pacifica return with their highly anticipated sophomore album In Your Face, out now via TAG / The Orchard. The record marks a new era for the Buenos Aires-born duo — one that captures their trademark mix of vulnerability and rebellion with more bite, confidence, and self-awareness than ever before.

“In Your Face is an introspective journey that brushes through themes of heartbreak, betrayal, lust, spite, immaturity, and regret — all with a pinch of humor and light-heartedness,” the band explains. “It’s about cause and consequence. Accepting fate and flaws, realizing some things really are the other person’s fault, falling in love and wanting to jump off a building for someone, learning to be patient, and just living through it — Tokyo streets, Maseratis, vibes.”

The album’s focus track, “Indie Boyz,” is a riff-heavy, tongue-in-cheek ode to late-night indie sleaze — all sweat, irony, and hazy dancefloor nostalgia. The band note that it’s “not to be taken too seriously — just a description of a week of going out almost every night. No poetry, just vibes.” "Indie Boyz" is also a nod to a trendy club in LA called Tenants of the Trees. Other highlights include “Fixer Upper”, a biting reflection on toxic relationships and performative self-destruction, “Just No Fun,” an irresistible, chaotic anthem about knowing you’re self-sabotaging — and doing it anyway, and “What You Doing,” a sharp, emotional spiral set to driving guitars and sardonic wit.

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Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice - Sailboat in the Sky.

Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice have unveiled “Sailboat in the Sky,” the bands hugely anticipated new single. This marks the debut collaboration between Nathan Bryce and songwriter Candace Crockett, blending heartfelt storytelling with Bryce’s soulful edge, creating a sound that’s both timeless and new.

With “Sailboat in the Sky,” Nathan Bryce delivers a laid-back, feel-good blend of Southern soul and his signature honey-bourbon blues-rock, with a modern edge. The vintage soul, swampy grit, punchy drops and sunset-coastal vibe feels both nostalgic and cinematic. It has a hook-laden, sing-along chorus that lingers long after the last note yet it’s more than a song, it’s a breath of freedom, a moment to rise above the noise, and remember what it feels like to be fully alive again.

Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice are known for their energetic blend of classic rock, blues, and southern rock influences, bringing a fresh perspective to the guitar-driven rock tradition. With a line-up featuring Nathan Bryce (guitar and vocals), Dylan Halacy (drums), and Jerry Paswaters (bass and vocals), this Missouri-based trio continues to make waves in the music world. NBLD has been touring the U.S. and internationally for the past 3 years as backing band and supporting act for Australian guitar prodigy Taj Farrant. They are now embarking on their own Tours, bringing their unique blend of Rock N’ Roll, nostalgia and high energy performances to audiences nationwide and beyond.

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Photo - Ramzi Karam

Cherry i - Mistake.

London art-rock group Cherry i return with their new single ‘Mistake’, a magnetic follow-up to previous single ‘The Arsonist’, continuing their collaboration with producer Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Youth Lagoon, Soccer Mommy). Built around an uneasy dialogue between artist and art, ‘Mistake’ captures what vocalist and lyricist Nikol describes as “a relationship with defeat”, embodying the tension of not being able to control what you create.

The track moves from hushed reflection (“I know who I am / I know what I lack”) into something unrestrained, as guitars scrape and shiver over taut percussion. Lyrically, ‘Mistake’ is full of surreal, visceral imagery (“The sun rays are filled with disease / My hopes are lost in you”), with Nikol reflecting on the frustration and compulsion that underpin creative pursuit - her performance leading the song from quiet restraint into full cathartic release.

On the lyrical inspiration behind 'Mistake' - Nikol said: “The idea behind the song is essentially a one way conversation between a person and something inanimate, in this case it is the fraught relationship one can have with music and choosing that as a career path. Wanting to have a sit down conversation with something so opaque and undefinable as art is what inspired the lyrics."

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Nervous Twitch - Arcane Moon - Icicle

Nervous Twitch - The Day Job Gets in the Way (Album).

Nervous Twitch have been featured a few times in the past on Beehive Candy and we are really pleased to share their brand new 6th album. The bands mixture of Punk and Indie Pop remains as fresh and feisty as the first time we heard them. Their song writing might consume them, however it manages to deliver some absolute gems along the way, the new album being a case in point, we love this!  

Anyway, here's the background.. Nervous Twitch are a group who somehow manage to perfectly blend Punk with Indie Pop. Based in Leeds, UK, the trio are self-confessed song writing addicts, and have captured their infectious powerful pop on five albums and three 7” singles, since 2013, plus various EPs and compilations. 

They bring a sparky, energetic live show and boast a rich touring history; from hosting all-dayers in their hometown of Leeds, exploring the lengths of the UK, USA and Europe, and grabbing a Marc Riley BBC Radio 6 session, plus notable supports for icons such as The Darling Buds, The Rezillos, The Meteors and Shonen Knife along the way.

The 9-5 grind, dreaded night shift, awkward customers or demanding bosses; album number six certainly shows the world that Nervous Twitch never let the day job get in the way. This new album showcases their flavour of first-wave CBGBs punk meets scuzzy C-86 pop; singing tales of joy and feelings of frustration, with sharp character observations. 


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Photo - Matt Hinton 

Arcane Moon - The Hour Glass.

Fresh from winning Best New Band at the 2025 East Anglia NMG Awards, Essex quartet Arcane Moon release their anticipated debut album The Hour Glass (October 31st). Blending soulful melodies with a driving groove and a sharp indie edge, the band capture an emotional depth reminiscent of R.E.M., Prefab Sprout, and Radiohead, while harnessing the rhythmic precision and intent of The Police, all underpinned by a 70s and 80s classic rock sensibility. 

The Hour Glass was recorded at Three Circles Recording Studio in Wimbish, Essex, with co-producer Adrian Hare, while tracks ‘Sunday Gravy’, ‘Spirit of the Bear’, and ‘The Hour Glass’ were re-mastered by Pete Meher (U2, Liam Gallagher, Pixies to name a few). Across the 12-track album, the band create rich soundscapes filled with biting, crunchy guitar licks, swelling synths, tight drums, and warm bass, all supporting emotive and compelling lead vocals. Balancing a sense of kinetic energy with contemplative, heartfelt sincerity, tracks such as ‘Utopian’, ‘Lumens’, and the new single ‘Sunday Gravy’ showcase mature musicianship, considered arrangements, and instantly memorable vocal hooks. At times evoking the textures of Phil Collins and Pink Floyd, while maintaining a contemporary indie-rock urgency akin to White Lies and The Killers, the album delivers a bold and imaginative journey through the band’s evolving sound.

Speaking about the album, the band explain: “The album was recorded in May 2025 at the Three Circles Recording Studio, Wimbish, Essex with co-producer Adrian Hare. One of the main reasons for choosing Three Circles is it allowed the band to play all together, authentically, live as a band, rather than building it up one instrument at a time. The song writing process usually starts with a guitar riff or a chord sequence giving an initial theme for the song.  We then jam different instrumental options and then put a vocal melody over the top. Once in place, Josh finalises the lyrics to the theme of the song. Finally, the artwork hopefully captures the spirit or essence of the song”

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Icicle - One Good Reason.

Released earlier this year we were asked to give this song another little push and why not, it's gorgeous so here's the backdrop. Born and raised in communist Bulgaria, Krassy Halatchev (Icicle) grew up with a few tight friends who were true music maniacs. Being one of them as well, he studied and analyzed every note of the repertoire of his favourite bands (Pink Floyd, Genesis, The Police, The B-52’s, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Clash…). With a little help from his friends (and band mates) he bought his first bass guitar – a Fender Musicmaster. It proved to be the best investment he ever made, for it changed Krassy’s life.

Following years of ardent practicing and playing in garages and clubs, the skilled musician fled from his native country and landed in Montreal one freezing-cold winter day in 1990. His brother-like peers from the band The Clouds accompanied him in this new and exciting adventure. At the time they were passionately devoted to the 90’s psychedelic rock. After many subway and club gigs, considerable magazine and newspaper coverage, and two full-length albums, the members of the band decided to explore new horizons, this time separately.

In 1996 Krassy joined the band Chiwawa. Produced by Steve Whitfield (The Cure, The Mission, The Trash Can Sinatras) and recorded at The Mission’s studio in Bristol, Chiwawa’s first album The Sick World of Yona won the attention of the media. Becoming a core member of the group, Krassy composed and sang a major part of Chiwawa’s seven albums worth of material.

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