Johnny Delaware - Nicole Atkins - Late Stay Ultra Girls - Nora Stanley

Johnny Delaware - Regret Town.

Johnny Delaware (co-founder and former member of Susto) will release On God’s Time on July 24, 2026 via Normaltown/New West Records. The 10-song set was produced by Delaware and recorded in his adopted hometowns of Mexico City and Charleston, SC - the album follows 2024’s Para Llevar. This week we have “Regret Town” as a taster for the album. Talking about this Delaware says, “For ‘Regret Town,’ I wanted to be able to express some internal emotional concerns about my relationship with life, the lifeline of everything, what’s important to focus my energy on, and what I needed to fulfill so I don’t grow older with any distaste. I wanted to project that existentialism into a song along with my dreams to be on the big stage.” 

The captivating On God’s Time isn’t so much a meditation on mortality as an embrace of our ephemerality. The collection looks to death as a means of putting life itself into focus, as a lens through which to understand the meaning and purpose of our dwindling days on this planet. The songs here are firmly rooted in the spiritual realm of the cosmic drifter, full of larger-than-life characters navigating their way through a world of tragic beauty and infinite wonder, and the performances are loose and raw to match, guided by instinct and tracked live and in the moment. 

It’s a moving snapshot, a timeless exploration of love and loss and gratitude and regret rooted in the promise that our impermanence isn’t a curse, but rather a gift. Delaware says, “Life is wonderful and painful and a lot of times it’s not easy, but it’s not supposed to be easy. We’re all on a mission to do what’s in our hearts before they stop beating. That’s the only journey that matters.  

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Nicole Atkins - When The Night Falls.

Nicole Atkins is proud to announce her long-awaited new album 'Drama', arriving via Sun Records / Wicked Game Records on Friday, 18th September. The acclaimed singer-songwriter’s seventh studio album and first all-new full-length release in over six years, 'Drama' is heralded by the first single, 'When the Night Falls', available everywhere now.   
 
“I got together with my old friend Emery Dobyns to write a song together,” said Nicole Atkins. “We had these chords, and the feeling from the music reminded me of something I would’ve written for my first album, Neptune City, and I thought about where I was back then. The toxic love affair. And tying it into who and where I am now, and being able to write a song about terrible love from a place of power. Some would call it growth. I’m just still in love with the ‘sound’ of heartache. It gets me like no other.” 

Largely recorded live over four productive days in her current home base of Nashville, TN, with GRAMMY® Award-nominated musician/producer Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense, Robyn Hitchcock), 'Drama' sees Atkins exploring the isolation, separation, and loneliness of a long-distance marriage through her signature fusion of musical genres and intimate lyrical songcraft. The album came together at the behest of her close friend and touring partner Chris Isaak, who signed her to Sun Records as part of his strategic alliance with the historic label as both artist and curator of new projects with his new imprint, Wicked Game Records. Drama spans style and era with smart design and an irrepressible buoyancy, from the girl group rush of “Trippin' On Teardrops” and Memphis soul-styled “For No One” to the James Bond-meets-Stevie Nicks noir of “Danny” and the wonderfully moody duet with Isaak, “Cue The Symphony.” 

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Photo - Tim Burden

Late Stay Ultra Girls - Chasing Rats, Polly.

Late Stay Ultra Girls release the new single 'Chasing Rats, Polly', a track which captures the unique dancefloor swagger meets creeping paranoia that stylises the project. After a decade immersed in the rich and varied musical landscape of Bristol, multi-instrumentalist Tim Burden steps out from the shadows of collaboration to introduce his striking new solo project: Late Stay Ultra Girls. Known for his work across an eclectic spectrum, from the alt-rock urgency of The Hideaways to the country inflections of Billy Driscoll and Taynee Lord, and the high-camp glamour of Doreen Doreen, Burden now pivots to something altogether more personal, visceral, and unguarded.

Under the moniker Late Stay Ultra Girls, Burden sheds the safety of the sideman role in favour of a sound that is deliberately unstable and compellingly “wonky.” The result is a distinctive blend of swung art-rock: barrel-house piano colliding with motorik synth-noir and expansive post-rock noise.

On ‘Chasing Rats, Polly’, Burden takes you on an uneasy journey from bravado to paranoia. Exploring themes of shallow bravado and the ways people bend the truth in an effort to be liked, admired, or taken seriously - it's a reflection on performance, self-image, and the consequences of presenting a version of yourself that isn't entirely real.

Recorded with acclaimed producer Stew Jackson (Massive Attack), musically ‘Chasing Rats, Polly’ undergoes a dramatic transformation midway through. What begins with a blend of off-kilter indie and dance-driven momentum gradually gives way to a dark, brooding bridge. Shifting from its tight rhythms to a more sprawling, anthemic, 70 rock influenced swell of soaring guitars and haunting vocals, the shift adds an unsettling edge to the narrative and provides the song with a compelling emotional arc - moving from swagger and confidence into a sound which is both cathartic and anthemic, yet introspective and unsettling. Messy, inventive, and sonically absorbing.

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Photo - Rachel Andes

Nora Stanley - Catfish.

"Catfish", the second single from Nora Stanley's solo debut, is out today. The track unfolds slowly and beautifully, built from a simple synth drone and delicate nylon-string guitar, with baritone guitar, koto, and layers of saxophone drifting in and out of view. What draws me in most, though, is the vulnerability at its center — Nora sings about the ways emotion can cloud judgment and the clarity that only arrives with distance. It's spacious, intimate, and quietly devastating.

If Nora’s name sounds familiar, it may be from her work with artists like Cassandra Jenkins, The New Pornographers and Fred Frith, or from Distance of the Moon, her acclaimed 2023 collaboration with Benny Bock. As a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser, Nora has spent years bringing her singular voice to other artists’ projects. On Glass, she steps fully into the spotlight, drawing inspiration from Anne Carson’s writing to explore themes of reflection, separation, and the ways we see ourselves mirrored back through others. Co-produced with Nate Mendelsohn (Frankie Cosmos, Dougie Poole), the result is a beautifully crafted indie-rock record that feels both intimate and expansive.

Glass is one of those small big words poets most prize. Reflective and transparent, hard and fragile, natural and supernatural, Glass is polymorphic. As a saxophonist, flute player, clarinetist, and synth player, Nora Stanley has accompanied many of our most cherished living songwriters, including Cassandra Jenkins, Beth Orton, and The New Pornographers. She has performed improvised creative music with Benny Bock, Fred Frith, Kenny Wollesen, and Peter Apfelbaum, too. Luckily for us, Glass is not a simple summation of these not-so-disparate paths. The complexity of that giant noun characterizes Nora’s approach to this record’s production as much as it does the variegated career that led to its existence. Glass is a record of subtly devastating songs by a cool headed observer; a mirror and a window.

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Hecojeni - American Aquarium - Josaleigh Pollett - Tony Fox

Hecojeni - Riding The Merry Go.

Hecojeni contacted us directly with their current single 'Riding The Merry Go' which immediately grabbed our attention for all the right reasons. There is a freshness to their indie rock styling, it's energised and yet melodically engaging which might be a prolonged way of saying it's catchy, but worth the extra  words in our opinion. The background - Hecojeni is an indie rock duo from Greenville, South Carolina creating melody-first songs that move between alt-folk balladry and groove-forward indie rock, with reviewers drawing comparisons to The Breeders, Talking Heads, and David Bowie. Heath Cobb writing, playing and vocals, Jeff Niebuhr writing, playing, and producing. The catalog moves easily between alt-folk balladry and groove-forward indie rock. 

The story behind the band is unusual. In April 2022, Jeff and Heath tracked a single song together on a portable rig in Port Royal, South Carolina — Catch Me When I Fall. The session ended, and Heath disappeared. Not figuratively. He moved onto a boat a mile off the South Carolina coast and stayed there for two years, kayaking in once a week for supplies, running five to twelve miles a day on the mainland with no headphones, no infrastructure, no audience.

Jeff finished the song anyway. He released it in November 2023 — less a debut single than a flare into open space. Heath surfaced in April 2024. What followed wasn't a comeback. It was an eruption. Fragments Jeff had been carrying for years collided with songs Heath was bringing back fully formed, and what had been a band-in-progress turned into a catalog: Catch Me When I Fall, Christmas Lost Today, Human Race, Only in My Mind, Summer's Calling, Riding the Merry Go, with more in the pipeline.

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American Aquarium - Twin Flames.

Amidst the defiant stomp of new album New Ways to Lose, out this Friday, June 26th via Losing Side Records, American Aquarium band leader BJ Barham finds a moment to joyously celebrate a love so strong it could last lifetimes on “Twin Flames.” Over an E Street-style, horn-drenched shuffle, Barham sings an emphatic ode to his wife, declaring “and it felt like we knew each other for the last couple centuries.” Barham has never sounded so happy, and who can blame him. 

“In Plato’s The Symposium, he suggests that human beings spend their entire life seeking their ‘other half’ to complete themselves and this song is my take on that idea,” explains Barham. “Roaming through this realm in search of the kind of love that feels like a missing part of yourself. The kind of love that feels like you’ve known that person forever. The kind of love that leaves you feeling empty and broken when you think of a life removed from them. The kind of love that I think we all yearn for.”

On American Aquarium’s new album New Ways to Lose, Barham and his band of road warriors turn two decades of survival into a driving, deeply-felt rock & roll statement — one built on resilience, reinvention, and the hard-earned clarity that only comes with time. Produced once again by multi-time Grammy winner Shooter Jennings, the album was recorded in Los Angeles over a 10-day session that captured the band at their most immediate and alive. Much of the record was tracked live, with Jennings encouraging spontaneity and instinct over perfection, while a round of overdubs offered the opportunity to add three-part harmonies and horn arrangements to the songs. The result is a muscular, cinematic record that embraces both sides of American Aquarium's identity: the bruised confessionals of a songwriter who's already spent decades sharpening his craft, and the full-throttle release of an anthemic, amplified rock & roll band.


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Josaleigh Pollett - Like a River.

Salt Lake City-based singer-songwriter Josaleigh Pollett issues the "Like a River" single ahead of their fourth full-length album, ‘If I Let It Quiet, and West Coast tour. Produced by long-time collaborator Jordan Watko (Crowd Shy), the new record will be released July 24th via Audio Antihero. The work of Pollett and Watko has received a slow burn of recognition over the years. Following Pollett’s warm and rootsy solo debut 'Strangers,' the duo initially found acclaim together in 2020 with the Indie Rock crunch of their ‘No Woman Is the Sea’ album. They reached a broader audience still with 2023’s electronics-infused ‘In the Garden, By the Weeds,’ thanks to support from notable outlets, including awards and end-of-year lists.

Although the continuation of Pollett and Watko's collaboration was never in question, the new album's creation faced new challenges due to Watko's relocation to Japan. Despite this separation, the pair opted to make their first cross-continent collaboration more ambitious and exploratory than what had come before. 

“Like a River is about an attempt at quieting the noise of my own thoughts and of a chaotic world around me in order to try to be more resilient. A too-late-coffee-fueled yellow-light-lit silent moment - having arrived at myself just in time to feel my pulse speed up and the news of the day sweep me away into frothing rapids. Hoping for the peace of a quiet river bank, only to remember that a river is swift, chaotic, and ever-changing the earth beneath it. Inspired by Paul Simon's Peace Like a River- a song I've always held in my heart as a beautiful protest song." – Josaleigh Pollett. 

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Tony Fox - Rising.

Tony Fox describes "Rising" as: "A song about rising above darkness and difficulty. It’s about shining even when times are hard, inspiring people to rise, inspiring people to shine, and reminding them that they are beautiful." Tony Fox is a female-fronted 3-piece band from Cornwall, creating pagan-punk rock & roll, psych-poetry music. The songs and performance blend raw energy with passion & spirit.

Tony Fox is an enigma - an androgynous, mysterious character and the musical alias of Jessica Cox. Jess grew up in the depths of West Cornwall, where post-industrial economic deprivation meets the seaside holiday village, where alternative thinkers and artists came to seek solitude from materialistic society, meeting farmers and fishermen. The band’s music portrays this landscape, with tones of punk through powerful, poetry-led lyrics about the life's hardships.

Currently working as a three-piece Tony Fox drives performance with costume, mixing pagan masks with big dresses, adding guitar feedback and crowd dancing to connect with the audience. The band met through a love of surfing and music; things that keep young people alive in Cornwall. They wanted to create a sound of their own, a step away from over-engineered bands and technical perfection. This music is about heart. It's about taking rock & roll back to where it began. The project is a DIY collaboration that has been helped along through friends and favours, and for the most part self-funded by Jess (a single mother who experienced a period of homelessness with her daughter during the making of the album). The grit and determination of her story – economically and emotionally – are present in the album which fizzes with soul and heart.

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Allison Russell - The Question - Beth Peabody - DegHerl - Amber Hotel - James White & The Wild Fire

Allison Russell - Black Lavender (ft. Brittney Spencer).

Allison Russell recently announced her third studio album In The Hour of Chaos. The album, produced by Russell and Dim Star, is a fervent plea for connection in this time of alienation, isolation, and dread. It’s an album that is meant to make you feel good and, in these times, feeling good is a radical act. Now, she shares the album’s latest song “Black Lavender” featuring the earthy soul of Brittney Spencer.

Of “Black Lavender,” Russell notes: We are swimming in rivers - flash floods! - of adrenaline right now. Black Lavender is a song about extending grace and soothing comfort to a chosen sister… the kind I have trouble extending to myself… But the beautiful thing is, she’s the same way - and she gives it all back and some. Brittney Spencer is a voice for all the ages who we NEED right now. We saved this song for Juneteenth for a reason. Black women have been showing up for each other in this way as long as we’ve been here, and we can’t stop won’t stop now! Incomparable - That’s what we all are, you know - Precious, Magical.

The songs on Allison Russell’s In the Hour of Chaos are meant to reverse the tides that pull us farther and farther apart, even from ones we love the most. It’s only fitting that Russell leaned into her vibrant and ever expanding community of artists and friends to create a collaborative song suite that goes far beyond a succession of features. 

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The Question - I'm So Glad (EP).

Oglio Entertainment have now released 'I'm So Glad' a newly remastered four-song collection from legendary LA mod trio The Question, available digitally for the first time ever. Often regarded as the first—and arguably most influential—mod band to emerge from Los Angeles, The Question built a devoted following in the early '80s through packed live shows, college radio support, and their appearance on the landmark WarfRat Tales compilation. Their blend of mod, power pop, and '60s R&B earned them a cult reputation that continues to resonate decades later.

Though they never achieved mainstream success, their influence can still be felt today. Members of No Doubt were longtime fans of the band, frequently attending shows and sharing bills with The Question during their formative years on the Southern California club circuit. More recently, No Doubt has paid tribute to those roots by prominently featuring multiple vintage Question flyers throughout promotional materials and fan experiences surrounding their Sphere performances.

I'm So Glad continues Oglio's ongoing archival series spotlighting The Question's catalog and celebrating a band whose influence continues to far outweigh the size of its recorded output. Now, I'm So Glad emerges from the archives with renewed clarity, offering listeners another glimpse into a band that consistently balanced immediacy and musical depth. Featuring four tracks—"Head On Straight," "I Can Feel It," "I'm So Glad," and "Have To Say Goodbye (Slow Version)"—the release showcases many of the qualities that made The Question unique: infectious melodies, driving rhythms, sharp musicianship, and an unmistakable sense of style that still feels fresh decades later.

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Beth Peabody - Get It Out / Out And About.

Beth Peabody has been a key member of the Jim Basnight Band since 2019, and after seven years of incredible harmonies, it’s time for her to shine on her own. Her musical roots run deep—she grew up in Cooperstown, NY, and lived in various cities including Billings, MT, Huntsville, AL, and Tacoma, WA. She spent her youth immersed in musical theater and choir, developing her impressive three-octave range and near-perfect ear.

With six years of piano lessons under her belt, Beth discovered her passion for singing and playing music. After meeting Sean in 2017, Beth joined him in their duo, Untamed Spirit, before becoming a harmony vocalist in the Jim Basnight Band in 2019. Her influences range from Classics like The Turtles and The Beatles to powerhouse female vocalists like Reba McEntire, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Patsy Cline, Sara Evans, and Stevie Nicks.

About the Singles “Get it Out” is a driving, basic, no-frills rocker, which showcases her style which drips playful pop sensibilities, while staying down to earth and soulfully irreverent. It harkens back to classic hits by new wave rockers like Blondie, the Pretenders, and the Bangles. “Out and About” is a bit more complex musically, but seamless in its direct approach. It reminds me compositionally of the Replacements, and other cool ‘80s and ‘90s indie pop acts like Hoodoo Gurus, Gin Blossoms, and perhaps even a little like my old band, the Moberlys.

Beth’s new singles embody the creative energy and talent that has made her a standout performer, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share them with you. These songs, along with the rest from these sessions, are a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in their creation.

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DegHerl - Nicht Nur.

Nicht Nur is the first single from DegHerl's album, due out in early October 2026. The song is a live favorite, and also one of the most impactful tracks in their repertoire, in which the German-language vocals of Italian-Austrian keyboardist Daniela Gullotta are chiseled between empty and full spaces, made of straight kick drums and minimalist riffs. It features a martial intro and a melodic central riff with angular and frenetic accents. Dark, seductive, and obsessive at the same time, as certain desires can be, caressing and sharp as a knife.

Nicht Nur could easily fit in the middle of a playlist with The Cure, Nina Hagen, Siouxsie. Xmal Deutschland, Malaria!, but somehow it also fits with the more contemporary Molchat Doma, Lebanon Hanover, and Drab Majesty. DegHerl were born in 2013, having as their main source of inspiration post-punk and new wave between the end of the '70s and the mid-'80s. The previous genre (and non-genre) experiences of the singer/guitarist Raffaele K. Salinari (in Bologna in the 70s and 80s) and of the bassist/singer Antonio "Toni" Tronchin (in the post-Great Complotto period/area, which also led him to the founding of bands such as Joycut in the early 2000s), converge and mix with other musical influences, thanks to the arrival in 2015 of the guitarist Alessio Franzoni (garage, psychedelia, kraut, indie-rock).

Daniela's voice is the perfect counterbalance to Salinari's vocal timbres, which alternates Lou Reed's style with lines closer to punk and British wave. In 2025 the band found balance with the arrival of Andrea Giorgi on drums, whose attitude is essential, clean and energetic, and with a background of studies in the Conservatory of classical percussion, with insights into contemporary minimalism such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

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Amber Hotel - Broken Glass.

We have the second single from the upcoming debut album Permanent Vacancy (Out Dec 11th via TCBYML). Following the nocturnal drive of "No Plans," Chicago’s Amber Hotel shifts gears into a high-speed collision of 1979 Gothic Pop and New Wave urgency. Their latest single, "Broken Glass," is a masterclass in the "up-beat but melancholic" aesthetic, a track that dances through the wreckage of a self-inflicted mess.

Built on a foundation of dry, driving drums and a bouncy, melodic bassline, "Broken Glass" captures the frantic energy of early The Cure combined with the precision of Interpol. The track's engine is a clean, jangly electric guitar that stabs through the air with staccato riffs, creating a sound that is as catchy as it is claustrophobic. It’s the sonic representation of a nervous breakdown you can actually dance to.

Lyrically, the song is a raw, deadpan confession of pride and regret. Baritone vocals deliver a "hiccupy," emotional performance that maps out the aftermath of a slammed door and a shattered house. From the "silver on the floor" to the tight-throated silence in the hallway, "Broken Glass" explores the "stupid way to win" by letting the cold air in. With its charm and production, "Broken Glass" feels like a lost 1980s classic found in a dusty Chicago basement. As the second glimpse into their debut album Permanent Vacancy, Amber Hotel proves they are the masters of the "fever dream" post-punk sound, capturing the exact moment when you realize you didn't mean it... or maybe you did.

TCBYML · Amber Hotel - Broken Glass

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James White & The Wild Fire - How To Replace Anxiety With A Broken Heart (EP).

The five track EP showcases some of the groups most complete and accessible work to date, bringing a driving sense of energy, some sparkling musicianship and songcraft which captures a cathartic sense of inner turmoil. Through their country, Americana, and psychedelic-bluegrass tendencies the band bring the essence and urgency of their live shows to the studio recordings whilst also displaying an uncanny ear for earworm melodies.

Even before its official release, the EP is already making an impact, reaching Number 1 in Rock and Number 2 in Country on Amazon Music’s pre-orders alone - an early signal of strong anticipation following their return after nearly three years away. Formed in 2019, James White & The Wild Fire continue to carve out a distinctive space at the intersection of psychedelic folk rock and traditional American roots music. A sound blends atmospheric, expansive textures with the structural clarity of bluegrass and Americana, anchored by the direct and emotionally unfiltered songwriting of James White. (band leader and songwriter).

Speaking about the EP, James explains: “I feel this EP is a metamorphosis. What was blueprinted as lyrics, chords and scratch tracks written and recorded between 2022 and 2026 during a time of immense heartbreak, turmoil, confusion and loss became one of the most beautiful and sincere things I have ever made. I couldn't be more proud of this EP, the musicianship of the members of this band, and how they brought the concept of it to life. It immortalises the lowest period of my adult life and created something that I am so excited to show the world.

I hope those that resonate with the themes tune in to the message that such levels of loss, heartbreak and pain are all part of a journey, that there is another side beyond what feels like an inescapable void, and that even when we carry our loss with us, there can be immense joy, freedom validity and peace on the other side. I hope you enjoy the incredible musicianship put on full display by Brooke, Lee, Joe, Mike and myself. We left everything out there for you."


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Quiet Houses - Phoebe Green - The Veils - Jenny Reynolds - Alex Henry Foster - Libby Ember

Photo - Meg Henderson

Quiet Houses - we're all in love (Album).

Edinburgh-raised, London-based indie-pop duo Quiet Houses have released their debut album we're all in love via AWAL, alongside new single 'made for love'. The album arrives after six years as a band and a decade-long relationship between members Jamie Stewart and Hannah Elliott. Written over the past three years, we're all in love is an ambitious and endearing indie-pop debut centred on romance, friendship, community and connection, drawing on the experiences of two people who have spent much of their lives growing up alongside one another.

New single 'made for love' sits at the heart of the album. Built around chiming guitars, bright synths and one of the most direct choruses on the track list, the song reflects on the frustrations of modern dating and the search for genuine connection, as the band explain:

“A lot of our friends are struggling to find romance. They’re looking for community and connection, but finding dull hinge dates and poor communication. Endless choice and fragmented society in cities can leave people feeling isolated and blaming themselves. When writing 'made for love' we wanted to show that if everyone feels like they can’t find love, it’s probably the fault of tech companies and a rise in the sales of DJ equipment. If all else fails, come to a Quiet Houses show, you will meet the love of your life, possibly.”

Quiet Houses · we're all in love

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Photo - Charles Moss

Phoebe Green - There's Always Someone Kicking The Seat.

Phoebe Green just announced her second album Premature Nostalgia, out 2nd October via The Green Dream Machine / Absolute, and shares the visceral lead single 'There's Always Someone Kicking The Seat'. Written and produced alongside her sister Lucy Green (aka Elucyve) - a producer of contemporary classical and electronic music in her own right Premature Nostalgia was created between the flat the pair share in Manchester and their parents' home in Lytham St Annes. 

Speaking about the album, Phoebe explains: "The album mostly explores my tendency to be extremely sentimental and attach value to every little thing - feeling nostalgic before a moment is even over and trying to control the grieving process by going through the motions prematurely in order to prepare myself."

Lead single 'There's Always Someone Kicking The Seat' begins with spoken-word reflections ("a supercut of when things were good / comes flooding back to me") before collapsing into a swirl of melancholic, glitching electronics, ghostly layered harmonies and overwhelming emotional static. Across the new single and forthcoming album, Phoebe and Lucy draw inspiration from artists such as Imogen Heap, Oklou, Jockstrap, James Blake, FKA twigs and Sega Bodega - embracing warped electronics, fragmented structures and more experimental forms of pop songwriting.

Speaking on the new single release, Phoebe shared: "We wanted this song to feel extremely visceral, as though the listener is experiencing the story firsthand; it was written in a similar way to ‘Reinvent’ lyrically where I just wanted to get an experience off my chest and melodically nothing fit, so I ended up just talking. It’s maybe my only proper break-up song, and Lucy really beautifully encapsulated the chaotic emotional journey sonically. It felt really fitting for the verses to feel quite matter of fact, recounting events, then melancholic choruses followed by a cathartic outro."

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The Veils - Fragile World (Album).

Following the critically acclaimed release of ‘Asphodels’ in 2025, The Veils quickly return with a bold and invigorated new album titled ‘Fragile World’, out today on V2 Records. Arriving just over a year after their last release, ‘Fragile World’ marks a striking shift in tone and energy for the band. Recorded live to tape in New Zealand by Paddy Hill, with production by Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, The Chills, Folk Bitch Trio), ‘Fragile World' captures The Veils in an urgent and instinctive mode.

Front man Finn Andrews says: “I make each album, generally, as a kind of atonement for the last. Asphodels was so quiet and introspective, I think I just wanted to make something strident and full of life for a goddamn change." This can be heard on the first single “Lungs” which has a yearning drive as Andrews sings: "I wish there was somewhere we could go / Somewhere my heart will not succumb / I want to hear it in my voice / I want to feel it in my lungs".

The opening track “Aurora”, with its very tasteful video, was written as it was being recorded, inspired by a huge geomagnetic storm that raged over New Zealand that day, while a song like “Little White Bird (Fragile World)” outlines the overall theme of the album as if Nina Simone and Arthur Russell are having a little dance. Focus track “My Foolish Heart” contradicts that with a piano-based almost Country/Folk style. From lonely, fragile ballads via uplifting tracks to the first ever cover to appear on a Veils album (Sinéad O'Connor – “In This Heart”), 'Fragile World' is Finn Andrews most diverse work yet.

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Jenny Reynolds - Willow & Stone (Album).

Jenny Reynolds has released the new album “Willow & Stone” (June 19, 2026). Recorded at Cedar Creek Studio in Austin, TX, the record was produced by Mark Hallman (Ani diFranco, Elyza Gilkyson) and engineered by André Moran. “Willow & Stone” features 11 original songs on surviving life. The album explores Americana and the jazz side of Folk, and includes a co-write with Texas songwriter and producer Gabriel Rhodes. Multi instrumentalists Michael Ramos (John Mellencamp, Bodeans) and BettySoo (James McMurtry, Chris Smither) are featured. Guitar driven songs help “Willow & Stone” dovetail nicely with Reynolds’ critically acclaimed release “Any Kind of Angel” (2020).

A 1999 Boston Music Award nominee, Jenny Reynolds first gained recognition in the Northeast music scene before bringing her craft to Texas in 2003. She was a Kerrville New Folk Finalist in the same year. The Austin-based singer-songwriter and guitarist has continued to evolve with a deeper sense of place and perspective. She was named “Best New Local Act” in the Austin Chronicle’s 2005 Critics Poll, and was an Official Showcase Artist at SXSW in 2008 and 2018.

Jenny says of the album: First thing: The collection of musicians on this record (BettySoo, Noëlle Hampton, Barabara Nesbitt, Brian Standefer), as well as working again with Mark Hallman (producer) and André Moran (engineer) makes me feel very lucky. Great players, great people. The title of the record comes from a lyric in If I Hadn’t Waited So Long. It refers to the irony of strength coming from flexibility, like a willow tree branch, instead of the rigidity of a stone. During the time these songs were written and recorded, with all the changes in life, beautiful and difficult, I had to learn to be flexible.

This album is the result of going from living alone with an adult lab mix, to getting married and moving in with my wife, another adult dog, and a 13 yo kiddo. Needless to say, quiet and privacy are uncommon now, but there’s a lot of happy change in everyday life.

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Alex Henry Foster - Springtime.

Alex Henry Foster, the Montreal-based artist and former frontman of the post-rock band Your Favorite Enemies, has released “Springtime,” the first glimpse of new projects on the horizon. ‘2 out October 23rd, is the first of five albums in a broader series, written and recorded in Virginia, Morocco and Canada. The releases represent Foster’s metamorphosis from one life to another, honouring the communities, relationships, and experiences that have helped shape him.

“Springtime,” the first single from ‘The Fragile Beauty (of New Morning Hopes)’, calls upon Foster’s personal tribulations: particularly the moment he died on the table during emergency heart surgery. The minor, dissonant chords set to a surging pulse ignite a sense of urgency that underscores Foster’s lyrics: “Springtime, Springtime / Your grief rises afar.”

Written in a state of reflection at Foster’s home away from home, Tangier, Morocco, the single describes the feeling of being disconnected from the physical body and searching for life among death. The accompanying video was shot in Morocco and features the late Moroccan artist, Najoua El Hitmi, a friend of Foster’s. “The song echoes the late Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish’s references about the metaphoric nature of spring as the juxtaposing struggle between our personal faith in the profound longing for intangible evolution and the collective desire to experience a palpable long-awaited rebirth,” explains Foster.

Foster’s global influences carry through to the song’s production, which incorporates African instruments and Arabic percussion, merging sitar, hammered dulcimer, bongos and congos with fuzzy electric guitars and pounding drums.

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Libby Ember - Gravity.

Following a breakout year that saw her earn Spotify Editorial support and recognition as a rising voice in indie pop, Montreal singer-songwriter Libby Ember returns with “Gravity,” an energetic yet emotionally reflective single that transforms heartbreak into quiet acceptance. Blending melancholic lyricism with upbeat indie pop production, the track explores the strange realization that sadness itself can feel deeply natural; something inevitable, human, and survivable.

Written during a breakup while travelling through Norway, “Gravity” emerged from a moment where emotional and physical exhaustion began to blur together. Hiking mountains day after day while processing the end of a relationship, Libby found herself reflecting on the heaviness she was carrying and how impossible it felt to escape.

That experience ultimately inspired the song’s defining lyric: “Going down is just gravity.” What began as a passing thought quickly became the emotional centre of the track. “When you feel down, it’s only natural, the same way that the Earth’s gravitational pull is,” Libby explains. “It’s something that we can live with as long as we accept it and keep moving on.”

Rather than leaning fully into softness or restraint, “Gravity” takes a more immediate and energetic sonic direction than some of Libby’s earlier work. Built around more active drums, brighter instrumentation, and a stronger rhythmic pulse, the production reflects the song’s emotional duality: sadness that still pushes forward. “For this song, we took a more pop-like direction,” Libby says. “The song felt like it needed a stronger beat to it more than any of my other songs so far.”

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Selve - J Schlueter - Federal Lights - HMS Morris - Uncle Lucius - Phosphorescent

Photo - Joshua Tate

Selve - Breaking Outta Heaven (EP).

Multi-award-winning Gold Coast (Yugambeh/Kombumerri)-based alternative six-piece Selve, led by proud Jabirr Jabirr man Loki Liddle release Breaking Outta Heaven, the companion EP to their history-making, internationally praised 2025 album Breaking Into Heaven: the first LP by an Aboriginal artist ever to be recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The EP - featuring focus track 'Run Boy Run' expands the album's prismatic universe with adventurous new colours and thrilling spaces in the band's uniquely playful-yet-esoteric way.

Liddle explains, "we broke into heaven [which] may indeed just be a big old trap we’ll need to wrestle our way out of in the end". Also including previous singles 'Creature of the Night' and 'Desire', the EP draws from Liddle's own book release earlier this week Damn Good Television out now via Magabala Books. Another stop on the Selve sonic rollercoaster EP focus track 'Run Boy Run' chugs breathlessly along a dark bassline with a mysterious-yet-heroic, cinematic energy almost akin to the anime intros the band grew up loving, featuring flourishes of 80s-esque synth-pop that shifts irregularly into verse and chorus; all made rewardingly earnest with Liddle's soaring vocals. 

Lyrically dense and somewhat of a cousin to 2025 album focus 'Leading Man Lost'; the track digs further into the Breaking Outta Heaven EP's themes of getting lost in the sauce, the pursuit of big dreams, the subversion of the cult of celebrity while echoing one of the project's core sentiments “You said it’s made of matter, I said it’s made of love” - and, as Liddle so esoterically explains, "the idea that we all might die waiting for our train to come - another reminder that our desire can be our liberation and our cage. And that it takes art to walk that line with grace".

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Photo - Andreas Weiss

J Schlueter - The Other Mile (Album).

Jörn Schlüter has been recording his songs for his band Someday Jacob for twelve years. Fifty-five songs, four albums, one EP. A new album by the Bremen/Hamburg Americana band is in the works. But something else is happening first – Schlüter has made a solo album. At the beginning of 2024, a repertoire unexpectedly emerged from nowhere. "Normally I first have one song from which the entire album flows," says Schlüter, "but these songs came in one go. They hung together like a flock of chickens that someone forgot in the fields they needed a home." 

These songs were written during a moment of crisis – Schlüter spent a lot of time with an old acquaintance – anxiety. "She's a good friend, but sometimes she stays too long," he says, "like the last guest at a party who doesn't understand that the hosts want to go to bed. It took a while to make that clear to her." Such challenging times are part of Schlüter's biography. He is familiar with them and wants to see them as an invitation to integrate what has not yet been integrated. 

That's how you can grow. Not so much to become better, faster, fitter and more productive. But in such a way that you get one step closer to yourself. The songs on "The Other Mile" reflect such considerations. "For me, songwriting is like a milky mirror," says Schlüter, "I polish it until I can recognize myself – or at least the part of me that the song is about. You put something of yourself out there so that others can do something with. Perhaps they see themselves in it."

In the fall of 2024, the songwriter called two friends to record the resulting music. Matthias Meusel, who is best known for being Roger Cicero's drummer for 20 years. Stephan Gade, who plays with Niels Frevert and sometimes with Udo Lindenberg. During the crisis Schlüter listened to Neil Young's 1974 album "Comes A Time" on repeat. He realized that he wanted similarly reduced arrangements for the new songs. Drums, bass, acoustic guitars. "I felt something gentle, but also something rooted," Schlüter describes, "in my head it was always Matthias and Stephan playing these songs."

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Photo - Christel Lanthier

Federal Lights - Celebration of Failure (Album).

A full decade after intentionally disbanding, Federal Lights return better than ever, with their new (and third) album Celebration of Failure, (Aporia Records), which was released yesterday June 19th. Starting in 2010, Jean-Guy Roy built his band Federal Lights slowly, stubbornly, with a lot of himself in it. From Winnipeg, they carved a sound and a following that crossed oceans. They toured Germany. They made records that mattered. They stood on stages in cities that had no reason to care and made them care. Roy had a vision of what Federal Lights should be, but somewhere along the way, by 2016, the distance between that and the reality became too heavy to carry – not because the band had failed, but because he’d decided it had. Roy turned off all the Federal Lights: social media accounts, gone; the digital footprint of years, deleted; all of it vanishing into the ether.

Eventually, Roy found that he couldn’t delete the part of himself that needs to make music, any more than he could delete a lung. In the post-band silence, he didn’t find relief, but absence. Eventually, the absence asked, “Now what?” The answer was a reckoning, not a resurrection. Roy turned the Federal Lights back on.

The result, Celebration of Failure, offers deep, authentic explorations of the vulnerable emotional states encountered on this long journey of destruction and rebuilding. Deploying few but well-chosen words in each song, Federal Lights move through desperation, obsession, depression, escape, defeat, loss, and ultimately, redemption through choice. The sound is anthemic, atmospheric rock – with compelling synth and treated-electric-guitar textures – that would fit neatly on a playlist beside Radiohead, Brian Eno, and Arcade Fire.

Federal Lights · Celebration of Failure

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HMS Morris - Bwletin Brys.

This summer HMS Morris will be releasing their first new music since 2023's Dollar Lizard Money Zombie. Their new single is called Bwletin Brys, a driving, angular, sci-fi frolic about eco-aliens taking over the management of Earth. It combines a gritty drums/bass/guitar rhythm section with inter-galactic vocal processing and a dazzling range of blipdy-blops. Its effect has been described as 'comparable to having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick'. "It's Sparks x Adult DVD, channeled through a 21st century woman raised in Carmarthenshire." 

Bwletin Brys ('Emergency Transmission') begins with an overwhelmingly powerful spaceship settling in Earth's orbit and transmitting the message that humans' mismanagement of the planet will no longer be tolerated. The normal wake-up calls in a case like this (climate instability and species loss) have effectively been ignored. Even dispatching one of their agents to lead the human counter-movement (Greta Thunberg) has proved ineffective. Regime change is the appropriate next step. 

The song channels the lightness and glee of Hitchhikers Guide, but the rapid leap forward in artificial intelligence technology over the last few years brings an element of urgency to the questions raised. Would we be better off if human's weren't in charge? Should we be happy to hand over control of Earth to a species/entity that prioritizes ecological harmony over cheap smartphones and beef? 

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Uncle Lucius - Election Day.

Phosphorescent - If I Could Only Fly.

Lost Art Records has just announced a new Blaze Foley tribute album "Sittin' with Blaze" with a double single by Uncle Lucius covering "Election Day" and Phosphorescent's version of "If I Could Only Fly." The compilation includes new recordings by Phosphorescent, Willie Watson, Lucy Dacus, Cactus Lee, Dylan Earl, Uncle Lucius, Riley Downing, Joshua Ray Walker, Twain, Angela Autumn, John R. Miller, John Moreland, and Lucinda Williams. The album will be released digitally on August 7, 2026 with a physical release to follow in the fall. 

Sittin’ With Blaze showcases an assemblage of thirteen contemporary songwriters covering classic early Blaze recordings from his ‘tree house’ days in Georgia. Those recordings were originally released by Lost Art Records as Sittin’ by the Road in 2010 culled from demos recorded by Blaze in the mid-1970s.

At the time of Blaze’s tragic murder in 1989 he was little known outside of Austin’s renegade songwriter circles. He is now revered among the pantheon of Texas’ great songwriters. Townes Van Zandt and Lucinda Willliams both penned moving tributes to Blaze and his songs been covered by John Prine, Merle Haggard, Lyle Lovett, Billy Strings, and Willie Nelson.  This project's goal is to share Blaze’s music with a new audience who appreciates masterful songwriting.

Writer Joe Nick Patoski, who contributed the liner notes to the forthcoming release writes, “The songs Blaze created resonate and ring truer than ever. The hallmark of a great song is outliving its author. In Blaze’s case, there’s a whole catalog of songs like that.”



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