Strange Dream - Nofar Margaliot & Waterman Project - At Baron Lane - Siv Jakobsen feat. Marit Larsen - The Sunshine Rebels - Blank Instrument

Strange Dream - Levanter.

Strange Dream contacted us a week or so ago and we were massively impressed with their latest track Levanter, and are pleased to share it after it's release this weekend. The band tell us "Levanter takes its name from the warm wind that blows in from the east across the Mediterranean. In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist it's a presence that's always close by but never seen, known only by the mark it leaves. This track borrows that idea: a hypnotic, driving groove built around exactly that feeling." 

Some background on the band: Strange Dream is a Manchester based psych band blending hypnotic rhythms, jangling guitars and reverb soaked melodies into a sound that’s both timeless and unmistakably modern. Drawing influence from bands such as Allah Las, BJM and Night Beats, the band crafts immersive songs built on driving grooves, layered guitars and hazy atmospheres.

Originally formed in 2023 as a studio project, Strange Dream focussed on writing and self producing a handful of singles. Following a short hiatus of recording the band returns with renewed creative focus and is now bringing their sound to the stage for the first time.

With a live set built around high energy performances, Strange Dream is currently seeking support slots and festival opportunities in Manchester and across the northwest. For fans of: 60’s Garage Rock, Modern Psychadelia, The Black Angels, Allah Las, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Velvet Underground. 

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Nofar Margaliot & Waterman Project - Fake Love.

Released a couple of days ago 'Fake Love' is one of those songs that stands out immediately and then goes on to build into a beautiful alt pop song. Nofar Margaliot sings in Hebrew and English and on the next album 14 of the songs are recorded in English and on the strength of this one may well reach a larger international audience. Some more background on the song. 

Israeli singer-songwriter Nofar Margaliot and Alon Wasserman's Project feature Fake Love, the first single from their forthcoming joint album. The song is about clinging to the crumbs of love: small gestures that give great hope, even when the connection itself does not give what we need. At the center of it is an image of plastic flowers, which look like the real thing but life is lacking.

Alternative pop with singular singing, guitars and piano in the stecto, in a sensual and melancholy atmosphere reminiscent of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black spirit. Nofar and Alon wrote the words and melody together. Alon also played, arranged, produced and recorded; Daniel Wortheimer is responsible for the mix and mastering.

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At Baron Lane - Door.

With their new single “Door,” At Baron Lane deliver a fresh, upbeat indie-pop song. At Baron Lane are a four-piece indie band from the greater Zurich area, extending as far as Lachen in the canton of Schwyz. Since celebrating the release of their debut album “in Paradise” at Amboss Rampe in Zurich in 2019, the band has continued to refine their songwriting and successfully demonstrated their skills live at countless concerts.

The quartet has already performed at venues including Schüür in Lucerne, Exil Club in Zurich, and Werk21 at Dynamo in Zurich. With the single “Future-Men,” released in June 2025, the band also secured its first airplay on various indie radio stations, both locally and internationally.

Inspired by groups such as Parcels, Twenty One Pilots, Metronomy, l’Impératrice, and Duran Duran, At Baron Lane explore the boundaries of indie pop. Their music remains catchy despite its many influences, while retaining a distinctive At Baron Lane sound—with melodies that stay in listeners’ heads long after the music ends.

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Photo - Jørgen Nordby

Siv Jakobsen feat. Marit Larsen - On You.

Acclaimed Norwegian songwriter Siv Jakobsen this weekend announces her new album Scandinavian Dread, out 12th March 2027 via The Nordic Mellow/Virgin Music Group, and shares new single 'On You' feat. Marit Larsen. Scandinavian Dread is Jakobsen's fourth studio album and the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2023 album Gardening.

Taking a wry look at the "sad girl" label attached to her music, Scandinavian Dread makes room for gratitude, grief and the humour of everyday life. Where Gardening explored past hurt, its follow-up finds Jakobsen considering what comes next: the comfort of a loving relationship, the pressures of ambition, and the small domestic pleasures that help her through the Norwegian winter. "Oh, you think I’m sad? Fine. I’ll give you sad," she jokes of the title, though the songs tell a more expansive story.

Co-written with her longtime friend and collaborator Marit Larsen, who brings a sparkling pop sensibility and guest vocals to the recording, new single 'On You' finds Jakobsen at her most bright-eyed and thankful. Celebrating a love that feels effortless after one that demanded too much, the song looks back with a new perspective, past experiences deepening her appreciation for what she has now. Anchored by acoustic guitar, it opens out into strings, layered vocals and an uplifting chorus, as Jakobsen sings: "I’m not trying, we are an effortless blend / In the thick of you now, never losing - you are my luminous mender."

Discussing the new single,  Jakobsen says: "On You is an ode to gratitude and pure joy - to finally finding the right person and realising that every road and dead end somehow led you to them. I wrote it with my good friend and collaborator Marit Larsen, wanting to create a song that could act as a bridge between my previous album, Gardening, and the next, Scandinavian Dread. It also became a very effortless blend of our individual voices as artists and songwriters, so having Marit join me on the recording felt both natural and obvious."

Marit Larsen added: "On You feels like—and sounds like—a breakthrough for my dear friend Siv. It is an emotional release bathed in light, hearts beating; the perfect song to take with you into the low autumn sun, with leaves crunching under your soles. The song reveals a side of Siv that’s usually reserved for those of us in her innermost circle."

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The Sunshine Rebels - Hop On, Hop Off.

Chicago’s latest indie-rock sensation The Sunshine Rebels arrives with their debut single “Hop On, Hop Off”. The neo-psychdelic inspired track is now available via digital streaming platforms worldwide. 

Inspired after a trip to the British Isles, “Hop On, Hop Off” drips with an intense and classic swagger, sonically self-described by the band as “Radiohead meets 10,000 Maniacs through a Beatles lens”. There’s a dash of Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders as well, which is evident in Sangeeta Driver's spunky and powerful vocals. Consisting of droning pedal tones, chaotic travel themes, and scattered vintage pop culture references, The Sunshine Rebels’ latest track is intentional yet surprising— leaning cleverly into a vintage aesthetic yet still remaining uniquely its own.

“Hop On, Hop Off” was created at Chicago’s Electrical Audio. Although recording for the tracks took place as recently as the Summer of 2026, The Sunshine Rebels have been cooking up these tunes for quite a while. The result is the forthcoming album, slated for unveiling in early 2027 – consisting of tracks that have been in conception since as far back as the early 2000’s.

“Hop On, Hop Off” was recorded live, with no click tracks or autotune, creating a rare and organic experience that is hard to find in today’s current soundscape. The new single is the precursor to what is to come on the forthcoming album, a decadent sonic treat leaning into 80s rock, alternative indie, and elements of post-punk revival.

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Blank Instrument - Jumping at Ghosts (Album).

Blank Instrument, Boorloo/Perth-based singer-songwriter Kim Franklin returns with her debut album ‘Jumping at Ghosts’, just released on Friday, (October 23). Spanning 11 tracks, the album brings together themes of love, grief, uncertainty, mental health and hope through Franklin’s intimate, reflective songwriting. Made possible by the generosity of her late friend Julie, ‘Jumping at Ghosts’ grew from songs Kim Franklin began writing in early 2023, without initially intending to make a full album. Musically, the album evolved through experimentation, drawing on folk, soul, blues and piano ballads. About this album, Franklin states:

“Over the 2 and a half years that I’ve been working on these songs, they have made their truth known to me. They were born from a place in my subconscious and in understanding them, they have helped me become a better person. How I feel about my songs, my voice, myself, has been transformed through recording this album.”
 
The transformation Kim describes has also been reflected in the response to the album’s first releases. Kim’s releases have reached #1 on the AMRAP Country/Blues/Roots Chart and #4 Overall, alongside airplay on ABC Country, ABC Perth, RTR and community radio across AUS. They've also drawn support from Backseat Mafia, Scenestr, AAA Backstage, Good Call Live, The Point Music News, Lock Mag and more.

Now, it all comes together across 11 tracks, with ‘Jumping at Ghosts’ moving through heartbreak, uncertainty, grief, love and mental health while holding onto hope and the possibility of renewal. The album opens with its first three singles, ‘Brand New’, ‘Know Nothing’ and ‘Green and Blue’, exploring new beginnings, accepting uncertainty and learning to remain present through grief.

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

Nick Barker and the Reptiles - Blood Nose.

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

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

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

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

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Tommy Keyes - Lucky Day.

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

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

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

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Malena Smith - 27 in Maine (EP).

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

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

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

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

Malena Smith · Maybe

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

Malena Smith · 18

Malena Smith · Betray Myself

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

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

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

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

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At Baron Lane - The Cause (Album).

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

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

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

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

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Photo - Lamia Karic

Winona Oak - Do You Hate Me Now.

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


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The Cords - Chris Rawlins - Halley Neal - At Baron Lane

Photo - Marc Tedeschi

The Cords - When You Said Goodbye.

Beehive Candy are really pleased to share the third single by The Cords from their forthcoming debut album. 'When You Said Goodbye' is a heart-rending pop song, it’s deeper, heavier and more immersive that the first two singles, but somehow it’s just as catchy. Grace and Eve Tedeschi may be young, but this is the sound of a band who are already totally accomplished at writing pop classics.

Comprising sisters Eva and Grace Tedeschi, they started playing drums when they were little kids. As mentioned the last time we featured them, they found that they liked 80s and 90s indie music more than their peers did, and so formed a band, just the two of them, with Grace on drums and Eva on guitar and the songs started to flow.

The forthcoming debut album was produced by Jonny Scott and Simon Liddel, and it respects the band’s stripped down DIY approach. There is some bass guitar (played by Eva and Grace) and occasionally a keyboard pokes its head above the surface.  But these elements are simply doing their job: the real stars of this record are Eva’s sinuous guitar and silky vocals, and Grace’s clattering, expressive sing-song drums.  It’s the sound of two sisters having an intense musical conversation with each other, pushing each other on to greater heights, exhilarated by the set of perfect pop songs they have magicked up. 

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Chris Rawlins - After Dark.

Chicago-based Indie-folk singer-songwriter Chris Rawlins is set to release his much-anticipated sophomore album, Flyover, on October 24, 2025 — a spacious, haunting, and deeply personal exploration of place, memory, and the quiet emotional weather systems of adulthood. The album arrives six years after Rawlins' critically-acclaimed 2019 debut Bring on the Rain, and stands as both a sonic evolution and a return home, in more ways than one.

Described by Rawlins as “a love letter to the landscapes, culture, and mystique of the Midwest,” Flyover meditates on the region’s overlooked beauty and unique emotional terrain. Through richly imagistic lyrics and immersive, Terry Allen-esque folk instrumentation, Rawlins paints a world of cornfields that become desolate oceans at dusk, of shadowy cities, and of love lost to a dream like longing — all filtered through the lens of a songwriter quietly observing from 30,000 feet above, and decades removed from childhood.

The album’s first single, “After Dark,” is released today September 12. “I started with the idea of ‘flyover’ as a concept," Rawlins says, “but it grew into something more emotional. It’s not just the Midwest being flown over — it’s about people being passed over, forgotten, left behind. There’s a quiet ache to that. And I think a lot of folks have felt it, especially in the past few years.” The concept of Flyover has roots going back as far as 2019, when some of the earliest songs were written, even before Rawlins released his debut.

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Halley Neal - Letter For a Friend (Album).

Halley Neal is an award-winning folk singer and songwriter whose music radiates warmth, positivity, and peace. Based in Boston by way of Nashville, Halley blends lyrical, heartfelt songwriting with soaring vocals and vibrant, bluegrass-inspired instrumentation. Often performing alongside her trio of upright bass and fiddle, her live shows are intimate, uplifting experiences that highlight her honest lyrics and effortlessly expressive voice.

A rising presence in the Americana and folk scenes, Halley has toured nationally, performing in listening rooms and folk venues across the country. She has graced the stages of major festivals including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Among her career highlights, Halley has opened for and shared the stage in a duet performance with Grammy-winning artist Sara Bareilles - an experience that reflects both her talent and growing recognition in the contemporary folk world.

Following the success of her critically acclaimed 2022 album Beautiful and Blue, Halley's next full-length record, Letter for a Friend, is out today September 12th. 2025.  Written as a collection of personal letters to the people who have shaped, influenced, and inspired her, the album was recorded in Nashville and reflects her most intimate and narrative-driven work to date. The project is a concept record titled Letter For a Friend.  "Every track on the album is written as a letter to someone who has deeply influenced or impacted my life - it's a very personal and intentional collection of songs that I’m really excited to share with the world," she shares. 

Halley further confides, "Do you ever think about the words left unsaid — texts we don’t send, letters we never write? Letter For a Friend grew from that question, and from a song I wrote for my oldest friend, Emily, reflecting on the ways she shaped my life. Each track on the album is a letter — to friends, loved ones, strangers, even to myself — capturing gratitude, memory, and the courage it takes to speak the words that matter. Though deeply personal, the album is universally human, a reminder that connection transforms both the giver and the receiver. Letter For a Friend is an invitation to reach out, to honor the people who’ve changed us, and to never wait for the perfect moment to say what’s in your heart — to just say it now."

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At Baron Lane - Trilogie (EP).

With “Gotta Get Out”, At Baron Lane kicks off their new EP Trilogie - an energetic, short, and punchy track that immediately grabs you with driving guitars and saxophone hooks. The song has clear ska-punk influences and feels like a mix between Madness and The Clash, yet the unmistakable indie sound of At Baron Lane still shines through. Trilogie is released today September 12 2025.

At Baron Lane is a four-piece indie band from around Zürich (up to Lachen SZ). Since the release of their debut album “in Paradise”, which they celebrated in 2019 at Amboss Rampe Zürich, the band has continuously refined their songwriting and successfully tested it live at countless concerts. The quartet has performed at venues such as Schüür Luzern, Exil Club Zürich, and Werk21 at Dynamo Zürich. With their single “Future-Men”, released in June 2025, the band has already gained airplay on various indie radio stations both in Switzerland and internationally.

The EP Trilogie features the first three tracks from the upcoming concept album “The Cause”, which At Baron Lane will release at the end of October 2025. The album tells the story of a fictional revolutionary named Lenny, who seeks a way out of the bureaucratic system of our society and gathers a following around him. Whether he will succeed in making a change remains to be seen.

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Splitsville - Amanda DeBoer Bartlett - Tooth Gore - Heavenly - At Baron Lane

Splitsville - Beth Steel.

“They're burning down the empire, but the trains still run on time”: that's the brash opening couplet on Splitsville's new single, and it's guaranteed to turn a few heads. Equally arresting is the sound of the new song, with churning guitars joined by a loping, Revolver-esque drumbeat leading up to a lush, yearning chorus (“You can't run away from yourself”) and a bridge to die for. 

It's clear that the band hasn't reunited for the sake of nostalgia, although their legacy would allow for that: formed in 1994 by identical twins Brandt and Matt Huseman of the beloved power pop band The Greenberry Woods along with former GBW guitar tech Paul Krysiak and later adding Tony Waddy, Splitsville was one of the leading lights of the turn-of-the-century guitar pop revival. From their home-recorded debut through 2003, their initial run yielded five critically acclaimed albums including genre classics like Repeater(1998) and the retro-focused concept record The Complete Pet Soul(2001). 

They've been missed, but the audacity of the new single indicates that Splitsville have returned not only with their melodic gifts and powerful sonics intact, but with heady new ambitions. The title “Beth Steel” might suggest a classic power pop “girl's name” song, but there's much more at work here. And while the talk of burning empires evokes the global realities of 2025, there's something much more local –and personal –at the core of the song. 

It's a hint of the thematic concerns the band explore on the forthcoming album, as they explain: “From 1887 to 2012, the Bethlehem Steel mill at Sparrows Point provided steady -if dangerous -work for tens of thousands of men and women. The closing of the mill had a devastating effect on the lives of many residents of Baltimore, including a former supervisor who was Brandt’s Uber driver one evening. She inspired the lyrics to this song.”

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Amanda DeBoer Bartlett - Braided Together (Album).

Braided Together is Amanda DeBoer Bartlett’s second collection of original songs. Blending her roots in country, folk, classical, and experimental music, the album delves into Bartlett’s childhood in Nebraska, her life as a young musician on the road, and the transformations of early motherhood. 

The songs pay tribute to gas stations and cheap motels, embrace the chaotic sweetness of raising babies, and contemplate reckless escapes into the clouds. With powerful and expressive vocals, Bartlett brings these themes to life through intricately crafted songs, recorded with Taylor Hales at the legendary Electrical Audio and performed by some of Chicago’s most admired players in the folk, jazz, and indie rock scenes. Amanda’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Bandcamp Daily, I Care If You Listen, and more.

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Tooth Gore - For Losers, By Losers (Album).

Brit surf punk artist, Tooth Gore, released his explosive sophomore album, For Losers, By Losers, on Friday 6th June. TOOTH GORE (aka Kobi Joe) is a supremely talented and exciting surf punk solo artist hailing from the seaside town of Newquay, Cornwall. Tooth Gore sprung to life in late 2021, but it wasn’t until last year that Kobi started turning heads and making waves.

By meshing gutsy fuzzed up guitars and taking in the emotive raw punk energy of modern acts such as Fidlar, The Frights, PUP and Jeff Rosenstock, Kobi Joe also blends in hooky reverb drenched doo-wop vibes (which are inspired by the music of the 1950s) and has crafted a sound that is unique and absolutely engaging. Kobi’s lyrics channel his uncertainties and anxieties, capturing both the joy and terror that comes with youth. The end result is something deeply alluring, passionate and cathartic.

Tooth Gore dropped his debut album, Halloween, last Spring, and tracks from the record picked up widespread global radio airplay (including support from BBC Introducing), as well as hearty Spotify streaming numbers. The single, Werms, was also featured on a curated playlist by Frank Turner. Kobi is now ready to step up further and is loaded with his best work to date in the shape of his new album, For Losers, By Losers. The record is poised to be a game changer for Tooth Gore. From back to front, the album twists and contorts and is such an accomplished piece of work. Kobi remarks: “For Losers, By Losers, was inevitable, it was necessary for me as a person, it's a step up in every way from everything I’ve ever worked on before. It also taught me so much about myself as a person and has been an expression of all the bad stuff that goes on in my head all the time. I’ve really found myself as an artist and can’t wait for people to hear what I’ve got in store.”

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Heavenly - Portland Town.

It’s been a long time coming – 29 years in fact – but influential indiepop band Heavenly are releasing a new single. (A full album will follow in February 2026.) Portland Town is as effervescent a pop song as any of Heavenly’s past recordings, with duelling vocals from Amelia and Cathy; looping, twanging, ‘how-did-he-do-that’ guitar escapades from Peter, and a super-catchy melody. As so often with Heavenly, though, the lyrics have real bite.  

The song embraces those who find themselves on the margins of a hostile world where maleness, straightness and conformity are in the ascendant.  So why Portland?  It has always been a sanctuary – one of those places where difference is celebrated, a place where, as the song puts it, anyone can fit in.

The B side is a cover version of a much-loved Only Ones song, ‘Someone Who Cares’. Copies of the 7” single will be available with a special signed postcard at Heavenly’s only show of 2025, at Islington Assembly Hall, London on 19th July, as part of the Skep Wax Weekender.

Heavenly formed in 1989 out of the ashes of short-lived punk pop combo Talulah Gosh.  Original members Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchiloff, Rob Pursey and Mathew Fletcher were joined later by Cathy Rogers, and the full Heavenly sound - a combination of an energetic punkish rhythm section, sweet, wandering lead guitar lines and full-on girl group harmonies - was consolidated. The band recorded for cult label Sarah Records in the UK and, by the time of their second album, for K Records in the US.  


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At Baron Lane - Future-Men.

Just a few bars of the playful indie-pop song "Future-Men" are enough to bring back fond memories: New Radicals, A-Ha, Tears for Fears, Eurythmics... These bands may have inspired At Baron Lane on this track. And they give a hint as to what makes the new single from the Zurich and Schwyz-based band so special: clever arrangements, airy electro beats, and partly multi-voice vocals, all woven into atmospheric synth sounds.

A track like this isn't just written on a whim. A glance at At Baron Lane’s history helps explain it: Since their debut album in 2019, the band has continuously refined their songwriting with numerous releases – and successfully tested them live at countless concerts. The quartet has already performed at venues such as Schüür in Lucerne, Amboss Rampe, and Werk21 at Dynamo Zurich.

Now, At Baron Lane have set their sights high: "Future-Men" is the first taste of a concept album to be released later this year.

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