Sacred Buzz - Alex Amor - Josh Rouse - Jules Klee - Railcard - Futurebirds

Photo - Khaled AlShannan

Sacred Buzz - Lost Highway.

Sacred Buzz is a Berlin psych band known for their electrifying live presence and deeply immersive soundscapes. Their sonic palette bridges vintage and modern: garage‑rock grit, krautrock repetition, mesmerizing drones, and proto‑punk drive. On stage, Sacred Buzz conjures a psychedelic ritual: hypnotic drums, throbbing bass, fuzzy guitar reverberating like a lost transmission, droning organ, lo‑fi vocals and surreal lyrics that will rattle your heart out and drive your soul up to the 13th floor in a hazy dream-like vision.

Released today “Lost Highway” captures the feeling of being on the run, hunted by something you can't name, whether it lurks in the world around you or deep within your own mind. A driving krautrock rhythm is spiced with raw guitar and embellished by a brooding synthesizer. 

A fuzzy, phased-out riff between verses evokes a sense of being chased with nowhere to run, before it all culminates in a climax that sounds like a speeding car, screeching brakes, and the sudden end of the road. Inspired by dark ambience of Joy Division and fueled with mind-bending imagery of David Lynch, “Lost Highway“ channels the paranoia simmering beneath the daily grind of modern city life.

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Photo - Henry Croston

Alex Amor - Inside.

Scottish singer-songwriter Alex Amor releases new single 'Inside' - the final preview of debut album 'Heavenly Bodies' - out 21st August via New York independent label VERO Music. Amor has also been added to the bill for All Points East's Lorde headline day on 22nd August. 

The heartbeat of her upcoming debut full-length, 'Inside' is what Alex describes as "a sad-banger lullaby for loved ones gone too soon". A buoyant, guitar-led indie-pop anthem that finds her holding joy and grief in the same hand, "it takes a looking glass to the ugly, scared, and messy parts of my mind," Alex says - from reflections on a world "when friends aren't gonna overdose" to the fear that "if you get too close / I could lose you too".

Speaking more on the release of 'Inside', Alex Amor said: "It’s about coming to terms with compounded grief, generational trauma and taking a stark look at one of the coping mechanisms that defined much of my twenties: dissociation. Pulling away from connection altogether to avoid the pain of needing someone, missing someone, or losing someone. Part of love is accepting loss, making space for grief, and finding the courage to feel it all. It’s a song about connection, the choice to be vulnerable, and learning that the only way through grief is to let yourself feel it."

Originally written as a sprawling poem, 'Inside' arrived in the studio with producer Baz Kaye determined to preserve every word Alex had written. The result is a five-and-a-half-minute centrepiece that pairs some of Amor's most devastating writing to date with an irrepressibly uplifting energy, informed by the sense of optimism Kaye and co-writer Peter Brien carried back from that summer's Glastonbury Festival.

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Photo - Joshua Black Wilkins

Josh Rouse - January Sky.

Josh Rouse has signed to New West Records and will release his label debut Museums and Women on October 23. The 10-song set was produced by Brad Jones, who also produced Rouse’s critically acclaimed 2003 album 1972. Museums and Women showcases Rouse at his most hopeful and romantic, balancing casual poetry and wry humor in equal measure as he conjures up a cast full of drifters and dreamers moving through life with quiet satisfaction. 

The music is often bittersweet, with a gentle, seemingly placid surface that belies the deep well of emotion and memory and desire underneath. The result is a lush, cinematic exploration of the endless stream of passing strangers who slip in and out of our lives on a daily basis. He says, “I was drawn to these songs because they’re so observational. They’re full of characters and stories I dreamed up from little moments that sparked my imagination on the road. At the end of the day, though, it’s inevitable that I’m in there somewhere, too.”

The sessions for Museums and Women were quick and raw, with Rouse on guitar, Jones on bass, and Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, The Chicks) on drums. The trio would record live in the morning, cutting multiple songs in a row before returning in the afternoon to complete overdubs while the music was still fresh and new. “At a certain point, Brad had this folder full of recordings on his desktop, and he asked me what to call it,” Rouse remembers. “I suggested Museums and Women because it was the name of a John Updike book I’d always loved, and it just felt right for the kind of stories I was telling.” Indeed, Museums and Women is a particularly fitting title for a collection that observes its subjects from a reverent distance, elevating ordinary moments of human connection (or lack thereof) into gallery-worthy masterpieces. 

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Jules Klee - He Don't Know a Thing.

Chicago singer-songwriter Jules Klee, who as opened for and/or performed with Joe Pug, Colin Gilmore, John Fullbright, and the West Texas Exiles, released the single "He Don't Know a Thing" at the end of last week. "He Don't Know a Thing" is the first single from her forthcoming album, Roses on My Table, to be released in 2027. "He Don't Know a Thing" (and the album, overall) explores a love that endured distance, addiction, and loss.

Jules Klee is an Americana singer-songwriter, with a voice that knows when to soothe and when to bruise. Her voice can quiet a dive bar—and then carry it. Her songwriting is rooted in plainspoken emotional clarity: songs told without flinching, 

“Jules Klee has a Chicago career of her own but shares a huge voice for harmony,” wrote No Depression. “She’s got pipes that rival Neko Case and Kelly Hogan,” added Time Out Chicago, “We don’t know her name.” The line lingered—less as a critique than a kind of unfinished introduction.

Her early work began quietly, through Chicago’s songwriter circles, earning a reputation for an arresting vocal presence that could shift a room without asking permission. “There’s a power and realness in her songs that’s hard to come by,” as stated by Colin Gilmore, fellow songwriter & friend whom Klee has recorded with, and joined on tour.

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Railcard - Unstable Neighbour.

Today the UK's Railcard have shared 'Unstable Neighbour' as a further taste of their forthcoming album 'Two Steps At A Time.' Railcard made their live debut in December 2025 and had by then recruited their fourth member: Allison Thomson (Trash Can Sinatras, The Love Band), whose flawless trumpet and swirly keyboard-playing complete the Railcard sound, allowing the band to fulfil the significant ambition and range of the songs, which are mostly co-written and often co-sung by Love and Button.  “Flannelette” and “Sunday Sun”, delicate and swoony, could almost be Slapp Happy at their most Bacharach. “Foxy”, mysterious and charming, has more than a hint of Kate Bush December magic. 

The raucous duet “I’m A Disaster” is The Kinks meets deadpan Shangri-Las. The title track could have been an alternative theme tune for Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. “Runaround” is like a school choir doing The Raincoats. “Unstable Neighbour”, mesmerising and insistent: it might make you think of Stereolab; we might imagine an indiepop Hawkwind.  Peter Momtchiloff also contributes two wonderful songs on the album: the fragile and hallucinatory “Paper Thin” and the Love-meets-Undertones rush of “Hillman Minx”.

Two Steps At A Time is released on Skep Wax and Slumberland September 18th 2026. An exclusive Dinked edition of 300 copies including a 7 inch single with 2 additional tracks will be available at participating UK record stores. The band have a string of UK dates through the summer and Autumn and there will be a Bandcamp listening party for the album at 8pm (UK time) on September 16th.

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Photo - Jacq Justice

Futurebirds - Pretty Eyes.

Today, the Athens, GA-born Futurebirds released “Pretty Eyes,” a cosmic country meditation on true love from the second half of their forthcoming double album Far Out Country II that will be digitally released September 4 via Dualtone Records.  In June, Futurebirds released the full 18-song collection exclusively on vinyl, while just the first 9 songs that comprise Far Out Country I arrived on streaming services. 

About the song, Daniel “Womz” Womack explains, “‘Pretty Eyes’ is my most vulnerable song - a slow-burning surrender anthem about the less lofty side of love. It holds one of my favorite lines I’ve ever written: ‘You feel like it’s vanity anytime you cry, you’re challenging the universe.’ I blacked out writing it and when I came to it was written in my notes. It’s the feeling of being torn between self-protection and the relief of being truly seen – not just by someone you love, but by yourself. It’s a song for anyone who’s ever loved someone so much it felt like losing an argument with themselves.”

Later this month, Futurebirds will kick off the final leg of their album release tour with two hometown shows at the Georgia Theater on August 20 and 21, followed by an appearance an AmericanaFest and a run of dates supporting Trampled By Turtles. Futurebirds is Brannen Miles (bass), Carter King (vocals, guitar), Daniel Womack (vocals, guitar), Thomas Johnson (vocals, guitar), and Tom Myers (drums).

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Tacron John - Henry James House - Samantha Harlow - Alex Amor - Futurebirds

Tacron John - Truthful, You Make Me Scream (Album).

Tacron John have this week released their album Truthful, You Make Me Scream which features singles “Saw You At A Party”, “Retro Dance”, and “On Your Way”. It's available on all platforms from July 7th. 

The songs was recorded in San Diego, CA at Anticline Studios, produced by Eric Cathcart, and performed by Dan Morilak (Drums), Frank Hankin (Bass), Joe Arlauskas (Lead Guitar), and Tony Casciano (Rhythm Guitar & Vocals).

Tacron John releases their new album, Truthfully…You Make Me Scream.  This is a follow-up to their debut album It’s About Time…Don’t You Think? released in 2021, reflecting the band’s penchant for light and hard rock, blues, ballads, R&B, and country. 

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Photo - Michael Wilson

Henry James House - Lagan Dream.

We have the second single from the Cincinnati based artist Henry James House. After recording and touring in various incarnations under the name Pop Empire, House steps to the forefront of these recordings recording under his own name. Last Lights Off The Black West is a fascinating exploration of a distinctly American mode of soul-searching. A kind of Darkness at the Edge of Town / Last Picture Show glimpse of the vanishing natural world and fading American dream that seems to be the domain of Midwestern artist.

While possessing a distinctive Marc Bolan swagger and stomp, these tracks feel and sound haunted by a deep sense of ennui and spiritual hunger that undergird the Blues that House covers on Last Lights...Blues is a broad tent here that extends to the 19th Century Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins (God's Grandeur), Memphis Slim (Mother Earth), Rev. Thomas Dorsey (Rock Me) to The Jesus and Mary Chain (Living End) alongside seven of House's original compositions.

"Lagan Dream" is an immersive reawakening of a beloved traditional Irish air, blending a trip-hop foundation in the drum and bass, haunting vocals and keyboard layers, deliciously melancholy guitar, drums interplaying masterfully with drum machine, and smoky saxophone. The lyrics, which weave an excerpt from Alice In Wonderland into traditional verses, reinforce the dream-like atmosphere of the song.

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Samantha Harlow - I Gotta Go.

Welcome to the brave, new world of music, performance art, and cinema that is Samantha Harlow’s new project, By A Thread. Or rather, meet Veronica LaMorte, a dreamy-eyed lounge singer, murdered and then rebuilt by her mad scientist husband. Don’t worry, no spoilers here!

As a collection of songs alone, Harlow’s By A Thread, produced by Grammy-nominated, Dex Green, sonically leans into mid-century pop/rock n roll somewhere in the orbit of The Ronnettes and Nancy Sinatra. “I wanted to stretch out beyond Nashville country, and felt more drawn to the sounds of 60s girl groups, beach pop and surf sounds,” says Harlow. 

But it wasn’t until the album was fully tracked at 3Sirens Studio in Nashville, that Harlow had a broader vision to create a companion short film series, where she stars as Veronica LaMorte, and takes inspiration from filmmakers like Ed Wood and Mel Brooks. The result is a Song Cinema collection exploring horror, humor, vulnerability and not being bound by societal norms.

Make no mistake, midwestern Harlow, raised in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, is no typical “girl-next-door.” She may have spent Sunday mornings singing in church alongside a large extended family, but on other days found fascination with 80s hair metal and the oldies station. “I wanted to be Steven Tyler,” says Harlow. An artsy kid that enjoyed dressing up, Harlow went on to study classical and jazz vocal performance in college, followed by an intensive program at Martha’s Vineyard for songwriting and recording. The Sixth Installment of the By a Thread Series, “I Gotta Go,” Arrives July 22, 2026.

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Photo - Henry Croston

Alex Amor - Aquamarine.

Scottish singer-songwriter Alex Amor today shares latest single 'Aquamarine' - a new taste of her forthcoming debut album Heavenly Bodies, out 21st August via New York independent label VERO Music. Alex Amor today also announces an intimate in-store and signing at Rough Trade Denmark Street on 26th August. New single 'Aquamarine' began with an unlikely encounter in Los Angeles, where an oracle card reader told Amor she'd "find her answers near a body of water". That encounter led her to an impromptu recording session with Australian producer Matthew Neighbour (Role Model, Lord Huron) in his LA studio.

Built around burnished guitars, featherlight percussion and an easygoing Americana pulse filtered through modern indie-pop, 'Aquamarine' sees Amor look back on childhood summers along the windswept beaches of Scotland's west coast.

Speaking on the song, Alex said: "I was in LA on a writing trip and an oracle card reader at my hotel told me I'd find my answers near a body of water. So I did what all completely sane and rational people do: I listened to a random guy I'd just met. I ended up cycling to Manhattan Beach, where the first lyrics to Aquamarine came to me. Right after I wrote the lyrics, Matthew Neighbour saw on Instagram that I was in LA, invited me to his studio, and we finished the song during the final days of my trip. Sometimes, you just have to do things before they start making sense.

"The lyric 'west coast air' has a double meaning. It refers to LA, but also to growing up and spending my summers on the west coast of Scotland - especially around the peninsula of Carradale Bay. Aquamarine is a love song, but also an ode to that summer feeling: salt in your hair, wanting summer to last forever. When I think of my happiest moments, where I felt true freedom and peace, it's on those Scottish beaches: a child running around wild, being dragged out of the sea blue from the cold, never wanting to leave the ocean."

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Futurebirds - Sober Somewhere.

Last month, the Athens, GA-born Futurebirds released their first-ever double album Far Out Country via Dualtone Records. In a physical-first rollout, the full 18-song collection was released exclusively on vinyl, while just the first 9 songs that comprise Far Out Country I arrived on streaming services. Today, the band announced that the second half of the album Far Out Country II will arrive digitally on September 4 and also released the album’s first single, “Sober Somewhere.”

About the song, Thomas Johnson explains: I wrote “Sober Somewhere” for my partner of 17 years. It’s about being in love and what that means over the course of so much time. Some things get stronger, some things fade. Daily life changes dramatically, and the threat of the road is always looming to drop a bomb in an otherwise peaceful lagoon of love. More than anything it’s a statement of commitment.  “Despite all that we’ve been through, and all that we’re sure to go through in the future, you can count on me being here for you and our family. To love and support, always.”

The first verse celebrates the strange and amazing relationship we have. As in, I don’t know how this works and I don’t know of any other like it, but I don’t think I could love you more. The second verse ruminates on the inevitability of growing apart, at least in some ways, over the course of such a long time, but being attentive and self-aware enough in those moments to reel each other back in and rediscover the fire that makes our love so special.

I actually wrote the bridge/outro years earlier than the rest of the song, but it’s also about my partner. It’s about wanting to be with her anywhere, doing anything, instead of being where I was at the time (in this case, a dive bar in Georgetown).  It touches on the challenges of balancing two things I love immensely (my lover and my music), trying to give both the nurturing they need and deserve without draining myself completely or going insane.

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Izzy Oram Brown - Chris Pellnat - Alex Amor - The Gods They Made - Burning Bouquet - Pomelo

Photo - Nico Hedley

Izzy Oram Brown - I Believe.

Released today, we have the third single "I Believe" from the forthcoming debut full-length by Brooklyn singer-songwriter Izzy Oram Brown. The latest single follows on from her excellently reviewed EP Mess and a split EP with The Bird Calls and a run opening for the acclaimed guitarist Julian Lage. As a fixture in the Brooklyn indie scene, Izzy Oram Brown has been featured as a collaborator in rising bands such as Why Bonnie and Youbet. 

Stepping into her own with her full-length, What I Want is full of unexpected surprises and moments of instrumentation and sound design that go way beyond a singer-songwriter affair. There is a sense that even as the songs on What I Want always foreground an “I,” they are not primarily written for Brown herself. She has the rare ability to crystallize emotional states and broadcast them on the most universal possible scale, both in word and musical DNA, with the invitingness, familiarity, and discipline of radio rock heroes like Tom Petty and the pop acumen and emotional intelligence that galvanizes fans of Phoebe Bridgers and Sabrina Carpenter alike. 

It might have already become clear from the description, but these songs are staggeringly beautiful—the kind that quickly silence a small rock club, that nearly any listener who has lived even a small slice of adult life can find an input for. Brown’s cocktail of timeless songwriting influences, lovingly rendered guitar moves, sensitive arrangements, and unabashedly vulnerable writing give What I Want a singular charge. It’s bound to stick long after the personal experiences onto which we may map these songs fade into history.

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Chris Pellnat - Reign Down (EP).

It's an ongoing pleasure to feature new music from Chris Pellnat, whether it's a solo release or with The Warp/The Weft where he is a guitarist and to quote him "half of the duo, Teeniest." His new EP 'Reign Down is well worth a listen, there is an overall feel to the collection of songs and yet each track stands on it's own merit with variations in style and instrumentation adding to the depth of this release, we have included both the video releases and the Bandcamp EP, Chris tells us some more below.   
  
"Reign Down" is a six-song EP of folk(ish) rock music with an infusion of vibraphone, clarinet, accordion, etc. "Reign Down" is the title track of the EP - it's a play on words since it's about wanting to be being showered with the "rain" of love. But people also yearn for the "reign" of love, so it works both ways. The varied feelings I was having over the past two years are apparent in this EP: from despair, anger and even fear as evil shows its face in the world, to determination, hope and faith that it will be overcome.

Accessible sound; weirdness intact: I worked on the "Reign Down" EP for the past two years while releasing one-off singles with Arabic and Japanese lyrics /flavor in collaboration with other singers. While I've returned to English lyrics and Western sound, you can be assured my weirdness remains intact. For each of the songs on the EP I created a music video in VR (no AI was used).


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Photo - Lewis Vorn

Alex Amor - Avalanche.

Scottish singer-songwriter Alex Amor today releases her latest single 'Avalanche' a new glimpse of her forthcoming debut album 'Heavenly Bodies' which is  out 21st August via New York independent label VERO Music.

The original demo of 'Avalanche' was written and produced by Alex in her childhood bedroom in Glasgow, before bringing it to her "holy trinity" of collaborators in London - Peter Brien (Kojaque, Kean Kavanagh), Baz Kaye (The Blessed Madonna, Obongjayar) and Karma Kid (Jessie Ware, Jalen Ngonda) - to complete the song. Led by layered guitars, gauzy harmonies and sweeping soft-rock arrangements, 'Avalanche' unfolds with a slow-building sense of release. Pairing melodic warmth and muted dream-pop textures with intimate songwriting, Amor documents the clarity that arrives just before a relationship falls apart.

The new single arrives off the back of appearances last month at Liverpool Sound City, The Great Escape Festival in Brighton and Footsteps Festival in London.

Speaking on the release of 'Avalanche', Alex Amor said: "Avalanche is about the unsettling moment in a relationship where something has shifted, but only one of you is willing to see it. While you’re starting to recognise it for what it is, the other person is still holding on, almost wilfully ignoring the cracks. The idea of an avalanche felt like the perfect metaphor. It’s not necessarily about destruction, it’s about release. It’s what happens when pressure has been building for too long and can’t be contained anymore. It’s sudden, overwhelming, and sometimes painful, but it clears everything out. And in that aftermath, there’s a kind of clarity - you can finally see things as they really are.”

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The Gods They Made - Hypnotic.

Hypnotic is the first in a series of new singles for The Gods They Made, marking a step forward sonically. The track was produced, mixed and mastered by Laurent Lozano at Moon Studios in Vevey. His involvement shaped the sound significantly: tighter, more direct, at the intersection of indie rock and post-punk — the song structures and melodic sensibility of the former, the directness and refusal to soften the edges of the latter.

With Hypnotic, TGTM introduced electronic pads alongside the traditional drum kit, which gives the rhythm section a wider sonic range than on their debut album. Hypnotic opens with a vocal and synth hook, before a word has been sung. No introduction, no build, no context. You're inside the song before even realising it.

The verse arrives next, pulling back from the hook's momentum into something more stripped. The lyrics operate through images and statements rather than narrative – "you know what I know", "fight the real enemy", "what goes around keeps turning". When the full chorus finally comes – "who wants it, who wants it" – it feels both inevitable and earned.

The song earns every section. Nothing overstays, nothing is wasted. The middle eight shifts the track's center of gravity before the final chorus brings everything back, fuller. That's where the title sits: hypnotic as the state you're already in, the cycles that keep turning, the thing you recognize but can't quite shake.

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Burning Bouquet - The Cycle.

Sheffield-based Burning Bouquet are an alternative rock band with a sound that blends emo, pop-punk, grunge and indie rock.Taking influence from bands such as Paramore, Holding Absence, Deftones and Don Bronco, the band formed in September 2023 and have been releasing their own material since September 2024, with plans to record an EP in August 2025.

Their line-up consists of vocalist Rachael, bassist Jamie, drummer Archie and exciting new addition Bhavik on guitar, and the past year has seen them deliver several energetic performances on the Sheffield live music scene.

This song is about committing to ending "The Cycle" of generational trauma. Most of the lyrics feature Rachael talking to her younger self, telling her that things will get better and there is light on the other side of her pain. 

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Photo - Dan Hennessy and Stevie O'Neill

Pomelo - Work Phone.

As Pomelo, Luke Elliott and Wynnm Murphy make seductive and engaging art-pop that displays evident awareness of its antecedents but feels very much like forward-facing music for today and tomorrow. Loreless is their debut, which was announced in April and which is out in a couple weeks. Today, we're sharing the third single, "Work Phone."

Vulnerable and personal and baked with humanness, Loreless is an album about being. A genuine trip, and if we are living on a shopping strip mall mode towards oblivion, Loreless accesses the tangible magic of the mundane. Paying attention to where you are and not where you will be. The album is raw and careful - the kind that pulls a curtain, applies arnica oil, and tenderises a muscle with a kitchen timer on 60 minutes. It’s listening to an open wound, from this life or the last. Loreless is an honest reckoning with purpose, histories, influences and sad magic that’s cathartic, acknowledged, satisfying.

Pomelo is the Amsterdam-based art pop duo of Wynnm Murphy and Luke Elliott. Together they craft a sonic world of sonar on solid ground, where avant-garde electronic techniques meet watery, resonant textures and sexy storytelling. The duo's debut, Loreless is a hypnotic, kinetic blend of pop, ambient, and electronic music; distinct, otherworldly, and oddly familiar, like an uncanny encounter.

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Heliara - The Pintos - Alex Amor - Horace Andy - Star Print Clad

Photo - Curtis Perry

Heliara - Everything’s a Love Song (EP).

Ottawa-based singer-songwriter Heliara shares Everything’s a Love Song, a deeply intimate and emotionally rich EP that explores love in all its forms. Blending pop, rock, indie, and genre-spanning influences, the six-song collection unfolds as both a personal reflection and a universal meditation on connection, vulnerability, and what it means to love and be loved.

Originally conceived under the working title Eclectic Love Songs, the project evolved organically as its deeper thread revealed itself. “I wanted to explore different types of love and different musical genres,” Heliara explains. “When I realized each song reflected a different form of love, the title Everything’s a Love Song just made sense.” The EP culminates in its most personal moment: “Confessions to my Daughter,” a heartwarming and vulnerable closing track that captures the depth of motherhood and unconditional love.

What makes Everything’s a Love Song particularly striking is its unexpected alignment with the Ancient Greek concept of love, which categorizes love into distinct forms such as eros, agape, mania, and storge. “I found out about this after I had already written all six songs,” Heliara says. “When I looked into it, I almost fell off my chair. Each song I wrote corresponded to one of those forms. In two cases, it was right down to the title.” 

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Photo - Robert Georgeff

The Pintos - Studio Rain.

The Pintos, formerly Matt Paxton & The Pintos are a Hamilton, Ontario alt-country band that has been gaining international recognition over the past several years for heart-wrenching songwriting, augmented by a distinctive musical chemistry. The quartet comprised of singer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Paxton, bassist Carrie Clark, pedal steel guitarist Chris Altmann and drummer Robin Pirson is poised to release the follow-up to their acclaimed 2023 EP Tornado later this year, with the first preview coming in the form of “Studio Rain,” a hazy excursion into cosmic country territory that boldly displays The Pintos’ new direction.

“Studio Rain” was recorded in Hamilton and co-produced by Steve Pitkin of Juno Award winners Elliott Brood, with Altmann also contributing banjo and electric guitar to the track. "This is the first song we’ve put out since rebranding the band The Pintos,” Matt Paxton says. “After three years we have become close friends, a family, and one as a band. ‘Studio Rain’ is about Hollywood co-stars and their on-and-off-air romances and relationship, and I think it’s gives a good overall impression of our new material. We’ve been listening to Buck Owens, Wilco, Neil Young and Blue Rodeo, to name a few.”

As a singer/songwriter, whether he's on stage or in the studio, Matt Paxton has always worn his heart on his sleeve, delving into themes of love, loss, and self-reflection. With his fellow Pintos now fully in sync with that approach, expect the band to keep building momentum throughout the year with each new single and live appearance.

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Photo - Lewis Vorn

Alex Amor - Icarus.

Scottish-raised singer-songwriter Alex Amor just announced her debut album 'Heavenly Bodies' will be released on 21st August via New York independent label VERO Music. To mark the announcement, Amor releases new single 'Icarus' ahead of performances at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton this Friday (15th May), and Footsteps Festival in London on 21st May.

Led by reverb-soaked drums and slow-burning, guitar-driven arrangements, 'Icarus' moves with a dreamlike unease, as Amor’s radiant unflinching vocal cuts through the haze at its centre - capturing the helplessness of watching someone disappear into themselves.

Speaking on the song, Alex Amor said: "Icarus was inspired by my love of Greek mythology, and born from accumulated frustration in my personal life. I’ve watched too many men I love - friends, family, partners - struggle with addiction and self destruction over the years. There’s something so innately human in the urge to escape: to outrun the mundanity of everyday life and the discomfort of being yourself. That’s what drew me to the myth of Icarus.

"This song tells that story from the sidelines, as a witness to the chaos, and feeling powerless in that position. It’s about loving someone who is chasing their own oblivion, and realising that no matter how much you care, you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to save themselves. Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is to walk away, and allow someone to make their own mistakes so they can find their way back to the shore, without you."

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Horace Andy - The Voice In Sound (Album).

Horace Andy’s ‘timbre’ is definitely of the “once heard, never forgotten” variety, regardless of whether you first heard it on one of the numerous Jamaican reggae singles he released during the 1970s or, as most people did on one of the Massive Attack albums to which he contributed vocals. His falsetto and characteristic slow-motion vibrato have breathed a unique spirit into tracks like “Spying Glass”, “Cuss Cuss”, “Skylarking”, and “(You are My) Angel”.

His origins are in the roots reggae of the 1970s, but he has always enjoyed experimenting: whether with British dub master Mad Professor (who also dubbed Massive Attack's “Protection” into “No Protection”), house master Ashley Beedle and the New School album on the legendary Strut Records label, or most recently with On-U Sound legend Adrian Sherwood.

Echo Beach continues this tradition – and, of course, the much older tradition of versioning – by inviting friends of the label to treat Horace Andy's classics to a new sound outfit. This is also very much in the tradition of Echo Beach, which 25 years ago created a perennial hit much embraced by free-spirited sound systems across Europe with the Black Star Liner remix of his song “Do You Love My Music” (Select Cuts From Blood & Fire Vol.3).

Horace Andy’s voice has become deeper with age, but by no means weaker, as can be heard on this album, where Echo Beach invites old acquaintances and new faces to take a seat behind the mixing desk: the cast includes Rob Smith aka RSD, who, as part of More Rockers and Smith & Mighty, was just as important to Bristol’s musical reputation as Massive Attack or DJ Krust & Roni Size. From Munich come the legendary Captain Yossarian (percussionist with La Brass Banda) and aDubta, now a versioning legend. Both conjure up superb versions, from extreme, super-quirky delay settings to perforated dub treatment with the legendary Roland Re-201.

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Photo - Dominic McKenzie

Star Print Clad - The River.

Brighton’s Star Print Clad return with real intent on their new single ‘The River’ (12th May), the second release in a striking run of singles arriving throughout 2026. The single comes ahead of the band's appearance at this year's Isle Of Wight Festival. Following the release of ‘Melanie’ earlier in 2026, ‘The River’ brings intricate, soaring guitar work, carrying a vibrant blend of classic rock aesthetics with blues and indie-rock undertones. It captures the full force and chemistry of the band’s live shows while showcasing the tight musicianship and unflinching songwriting that make them such a thrilling new name to watch.

Recorded and produced at Salvation Studios in Brighton with Jake Stainer (Wet Leg, shame, David Gilmour, NewDad), the track unfolds with effortless momentum drifting through atmospheric verses, before breaking into explosive, hook-laden choruses. Vocal lines carry a free-inspired swagger, while a simmering tension builds throughout, finally erupting into a soaring, high-impact guitar solo that lands with real weight.

Speaking about the single, guitarist and lead vocalist Joseph explains: “The majority of The River was recorded off of the back of the ‘Melanie’ session, the final hour we had the place. I remember laying down the bones, and most of the rest, in this whirlwind repetition of chasing to and from the control room between takes to make sure everything was captured. 

When it came to the acoustic overdub I believe we had around fifteen minutes left on the clock, I went in to check that Jake had caught the take and didn’t even stop to listen to it once he’d given the thumbs - I recall we did lay down some vocals then, as well as on the back end of another recording session a month or so later, both against the clock, of course.  In the end that gave the vocal a desperation in its delivery, I feel it’s fitting for the track.  The solo was cut in that second session too, a Selmer Zodiac Twin, double tracked and pushed to have the notes shake through the floor… That was fun.”

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Nameless Friends - MOMO. - The City Gates - Emily Mercer - Alex Amor - Ark Identity

Nameless Friends - The Quiet Part, Loudly (Album).

With their album The Quiet Part, Loudly released today April 15, 2026, Toronto rock collective Nameless Friends continue to build momentum with the release of their third single, “Clara,” which dropped February 25. Expanding on the foundation laid by their 2023 debut Blasphemy, the new record finds the band sharpening both their sound and their message—blending gravity with irreverence as they confront injustice, identity, and the realities of modern Canada. 

It also marks their first collaboration with renowned engineer Nyles Spencer, known for his work with The Tragically Hip, Broken Social Scene, and Alvvays. Drawing from the band’s experiences touring across the country, The Quiet Part, Loudly delivers an unflinching look at systemic oppression and personal transformation while still pulsing with the raw, joyful energy that defines the group. “This album is a love letter with constructive criticism to our home country,” says frontperson Number One. “If you didn’t care about improving the relationship, you wouldn’t bother giving the criticism.”

Across the album, Nameless Friends push their genre-blurring instincts even further, weaving heartland rock, folk, punk, and protest traditions into a sound that feels both urgent and celebratory. The songs wrestle with themes like the erosion of human rights, generational trauma, and the legacy of colonial violence, yet the band is determined to keep the music alive with movement and possibility. “I refuse to make joyless, preachy music,” Number One explains. 

“That’s not going to be effective at anything.” Spencer’s production helps capture the band’s restless spirit, balancing raw spontaneity with careful craft—whether in prairie-gothic stompers, plaintive folk ballads, or sprawling protest anthems that draw inspiration from artists like Neil Young and Kendrick Lamar. Since the release of Blasphemy, the London, Ontario–formed band—featuring Number One alongside Number Three, Number Five, and Number Seven, with touring member Number Six—has built a reputation for explosive live shows and fearless songwriting, selling out rooms like Toronto’s legendary Horseshoe Tavern while amplifying issues from climate collapse to trans rights. With The Quiet Part, Loudly, they’re doubling down on that mission—loudly, unapologetically, and with plenty of glitter.

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Photo - Sophia Poole

MOMO. - Egum Eô.

MOMO. is a London-based Brazilian multi-instrumentalist whose music moves across borders. With roots in Brazil but a life lived in Angola, the US, Spain, Portugal, and now the UK, MOMO. crafts a sound that transcends place. His upcoming album, Tum Tum Tum, sung in Portuguese and English, is built around the idea of continuity and forward momentum featuring guest appearances from bossa nova and Brazilian legend Marcos Valle and Smoke City's Nina Miranda.
 
Recorded live in South London with his tight-knit band including long-standing collaborators and UK jazz trombonist Rosie Turton, Tum Tum Tum is a free flowing, warm, expansive and fully assured album, his 8th to date and exudes a playfulness, a sense of someone who is truly in their element and at peace when writing and recording.
 
Lead track “Egum Eô” is a wonderfully Brazilian opening and sets the scene perfectly with MOMO.’s vocal sounding much like the album’s title ‘Tum Tum Tum’, pushing the positivity sky high in unison with a gorgeous horn hook. The broken groove slowly rolls in like a curling surf-perfect wave before the band all join the jam leaving the listener joyfully entranced.

The artist shares, “Egum Eô feels like an invocation. In Candomblé, Egum refers to ancestral spirits, and the phrase appeared naturally while we were playing, following the Afro-Brazilian pulse of the drums.” The visualiser for “Egum Eô” was developed by Raíssa Pardini in collaboration with Conor Lumsden, with Pardini also creating the album artwork.

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The City Gates - Capitol Hill.

Known for their dark, melodic, and emotionally charged sound, Montreal, CA-based The City Gates have established themselves on the international alternative scene with two albums, Age of Resilience (Icy Cold Records / Velouria Recordz), and Forever Orbiter (Northern Light Records). The City Gates have been featured on several top album charts across the globe, and in outlets such as Post-Punk.com, Sonic Seducer, Orkus, and Sanctuary.cz.

Their latest single "Capitol Hill" blends driving post-punk rhythms with hazy shoegaze textures and distant, echoing vocals. The track introduces their third LP, Chimera, arriving on May 15 via Icy Cold Records and Velouria Recordz, a dark and expansive record that pushes their sound further into cold, atmospheric territory. The new album will include their stellar tracks "Lapidation", and "La douleur (des mortels)."

The City Gates present the music video for “Capitol Hill,” a stark, brutalist exploration of an urban landscape in moody black-and-white. The clip moves through the geometry of the city, with snow-cloaked sidewalks, blurred trains, corridors and revolving doors, passing bodies, and overexposed close-ups of faces. It all hints at fading warmth and social disorientation, echoing the song’s overarching themes of isolation.

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Photo - Philippa Oliver

Emily Mercer - Flatlining.

Manchester-based artist Emily Mercer returns with her kaleidoscopic new single ‘Flatlining’, released April 15th; a lush, propulsive track that captures the frustration of feeling stuck in your own patterns, and the quiet determination to break free. Blending indie, folk, alternative pop and jazz-tinged sensibilities, ‘Flatlining’, produced by Rhys Jiang, sees Mercer at her most emotionally direct, the track contrasting its upbeat musicality with a deeply introspective core.

“Flatlining was born out of frustration at feeling stagnant and stuck in life, going round in circles, getting in my own way and knowing I can be better than I allow myself to be,” Mercer explains. “It’s about feeling trapped by your own mind, falling into the same patterns over and over - but ultimately it’s a call to action. It’s that moment of realising you’ve been waiting for life to happen, and deciding to fight against the apathy.”

Originally from the Suffolk coast and now based in Manchester, Mercer has spent years crafting her distinct voice, one that blends classic piano songwriting with lo-fi textures, rich arrangements and quietly disarming lyricism. Her work explores mental health, self-sabotage and what she describes as “a messy humanity,” delivered with dry humour and emotional clarity.

Her music draws comparisons to artists such as Fiona Apple, Mitski and Weyes Blood with a vocal reminiscent of Tracey Thorn in early Everything But The Girl. She effortlessly pairs confessional songwriting with rich, genre-fluid soundscapes.

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Photo - Lewis Vorn

Alex Amor - Meet On The Moon.

Scottish-raised singer-songwriter Alex Amor has signed to New York independent label VERO Music and today shares new single 'Meet On The Moon' - a celestial meditation on grief and feminine mysticism - ahead of upcoming performances at Liverpool Sound City and The Great Escape. Co-produced by Alex Amor and Karma Kid (Jessie Ware, Jalen Ngonda), 'Meet On The Moon' was written during a month-long creative reset back home in Glasgow, marking a turning point in Amor’s artistic direction.

Opening the door to a more expansive sonic palette - built around shimmering guitars, soft-focus synths and hypnotic melodies - 'Meet On The Moon' unfolds in a hazy, slow-burning alt-pop space reminiscent of Cigarettes After Sex, with shades of Samia’s pop introspection and the melodic sensibility of Clairo’s 'Sling' era.

At its core, the song is a tribute to a close friend Amor lost, imagining her watching back from the moon, as she explains: "I wrote 'Meet On The Moon' a few years ago, at a time when I was aching to create something different, to step into a new sonic world entirely. I went back to Glasgow for a month, put fate in my own hands, and started producing myself. It felt like reclaiming something. Meet On The Moon was the second song I wrote there.

The song is about a friend who completely embodied the mystical, magical woman archetype I sing about in the lyrics. A few months before I wrote it, she passed away. I found myself thinking about her magnetism - the magnitude of her spirit, the force of her nature - and how, in some strange way, Earth felt too small to contain her. For many reasons, this song had to come first in this body of work. It’s an homage to the divine feminine, which the moon - in her glowing, milky fullness - has always symbolised. Women are cyclically tied to the lunar rhythm, and that beautiful, elusive pull of the moon became the heartbeat of the song’s ephemeral sound.”

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Ark Identity - Closer.

Toronto dream pop artist Ark Identity (Noah Mroueh) returns with “Closer,” a dreamy, euphoric indie-synthwave track that captures the feeling of standing on the edge of something bigger. Blending nostalgic production with deeply personal songwriting, the single reflects the emotional highs and restless momentum that come with chasing creative ambition and believing that your dreams are just within reach.

Inspired by his journey as a musician, “Closer” explores the moment when progress becomes tangible; when you feel yourself approaching a new chapter, yet realize that every step forward only reveals another horizon beyond it. The title itself reflects that sensation of being on the brink of something transformative, whether it’s a creative breakthrough, a personal evolution, or the quiet realization that the pursuit of a dream is a journey without a clear finish line.

This song marks a milestone for the Ark Identity project. It’s his first fully self-produced release, with every instrument performed by the artist. During production, he was experimenting with vocal ideas when his girlfriend walked into his DIY studio and started adding melodies. That spontaneous moment helped shape the song and they finished writing it together.

“One of my favourite lines is ‘Coming home from Hollywood leaves me wanting more.’ That lyric captures the song’s essence, the feeling of chasing something bigger and realizing no matter how close you get, there’s always another level you want to reach,” Noah explains, “I hope listeners connect to the message and are inspired to pursue their own dreams and passions.”

ARK IDENTITY · Closer

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9Bach - Alex Amor - Izabella Lily

9Bach - Llaw 101 Mix.

Welcome back 9Bach although in all honesty this is our introduction to the band, and what an fabulous intro this is. The vocals shine above the subtly developing rhythmic beats that beautifully works alongside the soaring singing. OK then it's time to search out their back catalogue, something that Beehive Candy loves to do on occasions like this.   

The acclaimed Welsh band 9Bach is set to make their long awaited return to the music scene after a five-year hiatus, with a new single exclusive to Bandcamp and a series of live performances coming up in May & June 2025. 9Bach stand as one of Wales' most visionary bands, establishing themselves as a unique creative force on the music scene. Led by Lisa Jên Brown, they have broken new ground by combining Welsh musical heritage with contemporary sounds.

Groundbreaking Collaboration with Andy Gangadeen: In 2025, the band reached a completely new stage in their musical journey through collaboration with Andy Gangadeen - an artist with extensive experience working with leading bands, among them, Chase & Status and Lava La Rue. This marks the first opportunity to hear their exciting musical partnership, bringing "powerful big beats and up-tempo grooves" to 9Bach's unique sound.

This new material draws deeply from Lisa and Martin’s personal roots in the acid house movement of the '80s and '90s. It was an amazing time of togetherness. Although Martin and Lisa didn’t know each other then, they both connect on a level where those powerful beats of a London warehouse party or rave in a North Wales quarry puts them both back in that joyful place of freedom and euphoric pulse to move your body. It’s a powerful energy they crave to relive through their own music.

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Photo - Lewis Vorn

Alex Amor - Seeing Angels.

London-via-Glasgow singer-songwriter Alex Amor makes a luminous return with her new single ‘Seeing Angels’. The release follows a triumphant, sold-out show this week at London’s Folklore Hoxton, capping off recent dates supporting rising pop talents Good Neighbours and Gretta Ray.

New single 'Seeing Angels,' produced by Peter Brien (Kojaque, Kean Kavanagh) is a captivating return for Amor. Her rich Glaswegian lilt drifts through gauzy indie-folk and sunlit country-pop tones, with songwriting that feels both effortless and finely honed. Beneath the track’s soft glow lies a quiet resilience - a story of rediscovery and emotional clarity, where tenderness becomes transformative and love gently realigns what once felt adrift.

“‘Seeing Angels’ is about the healing nature of women—our ability to guide, nurture, and mend broken hearts," Alex explains. "It speaks to the way we become a source of strength in love, offering steady hands and acting as a compass pointing north, leading toward better days. Finding the wrong person can be devastating, but choosing the right partner can change everything. This song is about that kind of love—the kind that turns your world upside down, alchemises your pain, and makes you believe in something greater. Makes you believe in angels."

A tapestry of laid-back grooves, shimmering guitars, and vocals that feel both close and distant, like a memory half-remembered, 'Seeing Angels' is the first new taste of Alex Amor's first full length project, which she is currently adding the finishing touches to.

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Izabella Lily - Freedom.

Swedish-Finnish artist Izabella Lily returns with her third single “Freedom,” a modern folk rock anthem filled with lyrical depth and spiritual introspection. Following Izabella’s debut “Varandra”, 2nd single Indi rock genre “Fields of Green” and a recent live appearance on Sveriges Radio P4 Gothenburg & iHeart Radio, Izabella continues to build momentum with this evocative new release.

"Izabella Lily delivers a raw folk indie single with poetic lyrics and spiritual depth, with a heart beating for social justice. "Freedom" follows her Sveriges Radio debut and previews her 2025 EP. Rich acoustic textures meet modern indie production in this moving anthem about the kind of love that is selfless and sacrificial— that which empowers us to use our freedom for the good of others."

“The track brings genuine and authentic beauty, with acoustic instrumentation that perfectly complements the soft essence of the song. The melody is captivating and conveys a welcoming feeling, while the vocals bring emotion and sincerity, essential characteristics of the genre”.

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Alex Amor - Carmody

Alex Amor - Bad Tatoo.

Up-and-coming London-based, Glaswegian indie-pop artist Alex Amor today announces her new EP 'The Art Of Letting Go' will be released via Young Poet (WOOZE, Khartoum, Conor Albert) on 14th October. The EP announcement coincides with the release of new single "Bad Tattoo", released today in collaboration with Manchester outfit The Deep Blue.

Fresh off the road after supporting Thomas Headon on his recent UK tour, Alex Amor teamed up with producers including Karma Kid (Poppy Ajudha, Shygirl), Mack Jamieson (Mahalia, Sad Night Dynamite) and Gianluca Buccellati on new EP 'The Art Of Letting Go', the latter known particularly for his work on Arlo Parks' Grammy-nominated album Collapsed In Sunbeams. Glowing with star quality, Alex Amor strikes a delicate balance between indie-pop and dreamlike alt-pop, blending a myriad of sonic and aesthetic influences such as Blood Orange, Kurt Vile, Porches, HAIM and Men I Trust.

Written with Manchester indie-folk group The Deep Blue who also lend backing vocals to the track, "Bad Tattoo" is a swirling, crystalline account of the aftermath of a relationship turned sour. Possessing an irresistible indie-pop pulse, intertwined with rich lap steel sections and an intricate, spiralling guitar refrain, Alex Amor's prose are earnest and cutting in equal measure - "Carved our initials on a bathroom wall / So we could last forever / All that's left is a crossed out heart / We paid the price for pleasure".

Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of the new single, Alex said: "Bad Tattoo was written about a time when I wanted to forget someone. They kept making unwanted appearances in my thoughts across the day: while I was walking home, doing chores, lying in bed awake at night. I find it bizarre how it’s much easier to forget the good times but impossible to forget the bad times. It seems that our worst memories are stored somewhere deep inside of us and as much as I wanted to erase this person from my head, they persisted on my skin like a bad tattoo. Like one of those drunken tattoos you get in Ibiza at 3am and regret for the rest of your life."

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Carmody - Imperfect Constellations (Album).

The fantastic debut album from London singer-songwriter Carmody - 'Imperfect Constellations' is released today.

Carmody's music evokes the timelessness of Joni Mitchell and Joan Armatrading while nodding to the modern alt-folk of Laura Marling and Big Thief and the jazz-flecked soul of Lianne La Havas and Jordan Rakei.

'Imperfect Constellations' follows Carmody's 4 previously released EPs and her 2014 collaborative EP with Tom Misch, 'Out To Sea'. Tom Misch returns to feature on Imperfect Constellations alongside Alfa Mist, Conor Albert and Laura Misch, as well as co-writes and co-productions with Avi Barath (Berwyn, Priya Ragu, Pa Salieu), Calum Duncan (Rachel Chinouriri, Alaskalaska) and Rahm Silverglade (of altopalo).

Carmody recently sold out the new Amazing Grace venue in London Bridge, and the new record adds to her catalogue which boasts over 70 million+ streams, strong press (Notion Magazine, Clash Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, Wonderland, Dummy, LISTEN Magazine + more), radio airplay from BBC R1 (Jack Saunders, Sian Eleri), 6Music and BBC R2, alongside huge support from Spotify and Apple Music.

thisiscarmody · Imperfect Constellations

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