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| Photo - Joshua Mulholland |
Edwina van Kuyk returns with “Here To Stay,” just arrived (May 22) on all streaming platforms. The song is a stirring new single that expands beyond her signature indie soundscape while remaining unmistakably her own. Blending delicate piano melodies, cinematic strings, gospel- inspired percussion, and a swelling choir, the track unfolds as both an emotional confession and an anthem of hope.
Opening with Van Kuyk’s intimate vocals floating over soft piano and strings, “Here To Stay” gradually builds into a rich, gospel-infused crescendo. Thunderous drums and layered harmonies elevate the track into something both deeply personal and spiritually resonant. Throughout the song, Van Kuyk’s distinctive jazz-flared vocal delivery anchors the emotional weight of the piece, bringing warmth and honesty to every lyric. “My favourite artist growing up was James Morrison, and I loved how he brought elements of gospel music into his songs,” says Van Kuyk. “I've always dreamed of recording with a live choir, and on this track, it became a reality. I feel very lucky to have the students from St. Kevins Community College involved. They really brought my vision to life.
“Here To Stay” explores the instinct to protect oneself from heartbreak. Van Kuyk captures the fear that permanence may not exist at all: “I learned the hard way that hardly anyone stays, Come to realize that leaving is on its way.” The track wrestles with self-sabotage, emotional guardedness, and the exhaustion of expecting abandonment before ultimately arriving at a fragile but transformative hope. By the song’s close, the repeated fear that “nothing’s here to stay” shifts into the possibility that maybe something finally will. “Here To Stay” ultimately reflects the tension between wanting permanence and confronting the reality that nothing really is.
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| Photo - Derek Bremner |
Bath, UK-based five-piece Night Swimming just released their second EP 'Melting, Sometimes Bleeding' via Venn Records (Bob Vylan, Witch Fever, High Vis). The band have also shared two new live recorded videos of EP tracks 'Dark Clouds' and 'Nothing Safe Is Technicolour', shot and recorded at Bam Bam Studios. Expanding from shadowy trip-hop minimalism into surges of crushing melodic shoegaze and intoxicating indie-rock, 'Melting, Sometimes Bleeding' is a confident and spellbinding statement of intent from the Bath outfit.
Produced by longtime collaborator Peter Miles (Orla Gartland, Nina Nesbitt) and mastered by Slowdive’s Simon Scott, the new EP features previously released singles including latest taster 'Nothing Safe Is Technicolour', the hypnotic, rhythmic dream-pop of 'Poison Berry' and the restrained urgency of 'Submarine'. "The EP is a collection of songs exploring themes of identity, de-personalization, stilted connection and loss," says vocalist and lyricist Meg Jones.
Following their 2024 breakout debut EP 'No Place To Land' which cemented them as a vital addition to the country’s new wave of dream-pop acts, Night Swimming have since drawn admirers from some of the genre’s original icons and toured extensively with the likes of Heartworms, bdrmm, Miki Berenyi and Pale Blue Eyes.
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Toronto’s Victoria Staff unveils her debut album Pink Magnolia alongside its lead single “Take Me Home,” arriving together as a fully realized introduction to her world. Equal parts playful and reflective, the record captures both the thrill of being young and untethered and the quieter, more complex process of figuring out who you are.
Written and recorded alongside producer Will Crann, Pink Magnolia embraces collaboration and imperfection. From spontaneous studio moments to trying ideas with no clear outcome, the process was guided by curiosity rather than precision. “It reminded me why I fell in love with music,” Victoria notes. That sense of freedom runs through the record, giving it a loose, lived-in quality that mirrors its themes of growth and self-acceptance.
Speaking on “Take Me Home,” Victoria explains that she “...wanted to embody the excitement of meeting someone new and that mutual attraction. Dating gets a bad rap, but there’s a lot of fun in a young, single era.” Built around a simple, instantly memorable chorus, the indie pop track leans into spontaneity and connection, offering a snapshot of youth in motion. A song that has already become a live favourite, its singalong energy taps into something immediate and communal.
While “Take Me Home” captures a single, vivid moment, Pink Magnolia expands that lens outward. The album explores the broader emotional landscape of coming into yourself: searching for peace, sitting with uncertainty, and learning to accept where you are. “It’s about hunting for peace, looking for ease, and maybe always having it evade you,” Victoria says. “It’s not really a happy or sad album. It just is.”
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A fine nerve runs through Ghost of a Problem, Kyle Morgan’s second solo record after 2022’s Younger at Most Everything (Team Love Records). The album is a car swerving in and out of the passing lane, driver scanning the rearview mirror for the bloody mess he’s certain he has left behind. Hit-and-run or phantom tollbooth? All in the mind, or real as red? It’s an awkward thing about life, that you’ve got to live it in forward while trying to understand it in reverse. Still, dodging traffic on the PA Turnpike amidst a beat-up Elliot Smith record, the sparkling pick-up of the Cactus Blossoms, or the blissful, wide-open lane of an Emmylou Harris album, Ghost manages to gain some perspective.
Basic tracks were laid down in May and June of 2023 under engineer/ producer Ryan Dieringer of Welterweight Sound in New Paltz, NY, performed by the trio of Morgan on guitar and piano, Sean Cronin on bass and Rachel Housle on the drums. “We did a lot of the arranging together, the four of us, there in the studio, ”Morgan wrote about the initial sessions.
“Some I had more fleshed-out demos for, some we constructed together from the ground up, like with the title track, for instance. It was a really fun process. Less recreation of the demo and more collaborative, more defined by a band playing together, which is what I always want it to feel like.” The result is a record that feels like a new bough grafted onto an old apple tree, deliberate in its arrangements and production while staying exploratory and organic in the actual playing.
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Blending intimate lyrics with Sam Fenderesque guitar, ‘Everybody's In Love'’ captures the excitement of discovering that any place can feel special when shared with the right person. The EP was built around acoustic instrumentation, and Fox’s distinctive and emotive lyric delivery, the EP explores themes of connection, devotion and finding comfort in companionship.
It’s an indie rock take on the current state of the world, a kind of social commentary touching on themes like elites, billionaires, and the sense that everything is “in flames.” But I didn’t want it to feel heavy or defeatist. There’s a thread of hope running through it, because that’s what people really need in times like these.
Support for the EP's singles has come from BBC Radio, achieving the BBC Radio Wales Welsh A-List playlist for two consecutive weeks. Further support included, Newport City Radio, Phoenix FM, Bombshell Radio and a string of US Regional plays.
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Scott Fisher - A Billion Suns (Album).
Scott Fisher returns with his seventh studio album, A Billion Suns. Serving as the follow up to 2023’s Kingdom Of Ego the new record finds Scott at his most confident and unapologetic yet. Available now via all streaming platforms, A Billion Suns balances sophisticated production and raw instrumentation over the span of nine chill, yet emotionally impactful tracks. Following behind a trilogy of introspective jazz-influenced singles including “The Great Unknown”, “Dangerous Game”, and title track “A Billion Suns”, the new album further cements Scott’s role in the indie soul landscape. At its core, the record explores the power of duality and the poise between improvisation and craftsmanship, creating a sonic haven for those overanalyzing their place in this world.
Often critics have accurately compared Scott’s guitar deliveries to those of John Mayer’s, although vocally Fisher bears a more refined and honed in sound, similar to Leon Bridges or Father John Misty. In terms of the album, Fisher is an expert at mashing together various different genres including soul, R & B, rock, and much more — proving that A Billion Suns is one of his richest and most diverse pieces of music thus far.
Featuring an impressive roster of musicians, A Billion Suns was recorded at East West Studios, featuring co-production and bass guitar by Tim Lefebvre (David Bowie, Black Crowes, Sting) and Joey Waronker (Thom Yorke, Beck, Oasis, Roger Waters) on drums.
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Rachel McCartney has released her fourth studio album, Taming Dragons, marking her first album release in seventeen years. If you were in the Boston area in the early 2000s, chances are you were aware of McCartney’s burgeoning music career. Even if not, it’s likely that you heard her voice wafting through your local MBTA train/bus station, as she was deeply committed to her morning busking shift, even after late nights of playing shows. After over a decade spent nurturing her nursing career and her family, Rachel McCartney is returning to the stage with a batch of songs and stories that have been quietly incubating, waiting for the right moment to be shared.
Taming Dragons is produced by multi-instrumentalist/producer Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne, Rose Cousins, Mark Erelli). In addition to Zach’s musical contributions, he assembled a dream-team of session musicians to fill out the rest of the seats: Rich Hinman, Dave Brophy, and James Rohr, along with harmony vocal contributions by Rose Polenzani, Vivian Sessoms, and McCartney’s longtime collaborator, friend and co-writer, Teddy Goldstein.
At the album release show in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Teddy Goldstein will kick off the evening, celebrating Taming Dragons’ release at Club Passim on May 28, 2026. The event marks a true homecoming, as Passim was a steady haunt of McCartney’s back in the day, and Matt Smith of Club Passim was one of the early champions of her music. The last time McCartney took the Passim stage was the album release of her previous record, New Days Nightly, where she was 7-months pregnant with her now-teenage son. Many of the studio musicians that played on Taming Dragons will be there to bring the songs to life in person, as well as some very special guests.
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