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. She then moved to Nashville, found disenchanting work at a mattress factory, until one day walked into the legendary honky-tonk, Robert’s Western World and asked for a bartending job. Harlow says this is where her Nashville music education began and grew into working with some of Music City’s finest musicians.
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| Photo - Stephanie Gibson |
Glasgow band Brontës have released their self-titled debut album via Last Night From Glasgow. Recorded at Beetroot Studios in Airdrie with producer and engineer Stuart MacLeod, Brontës’ eponymous album is a sassy slice of sophisticated pop. Imagine the Tom Tom Club jamming with Chrissy Hynde. A band that has been maturing and building live buzz since their very first single, this promises to be a huge crowd pleaser.
“Writing, recording and playing this album has been incredible,” the band shared, “Working with Stuart MacLeod at the beginning of the year on the tracks was a special experience, it felt surreal and close to magic. Having the opportunity to use a studio like Beetroot and record with someone who believed in the music as much as we did was truly extraordinary. The album is sassy and jangly, but it is also the most vulnerable we have presented ourselves in our music, which as a band is a big step for us in the new direction. We are ecstatic for people to finally hear what we have been working on together with Beetroot and LNFG, and for what we do next".
Brontës are Eva on vocals/guitar, Amelia on drums/vocals, Erin on guitar/vocals and Katie on bass/vocals. With a brand new look, attitude and sound Brontës have reinvented themselves as a 4-piece rock/pop band influenced by generations of classic pop music such as Sabrina Carpenter, Blondie and The Ronettes.
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A-100s - Too Rad To Be Sad.
Southern California’s A100s are a brand new band nearly a decade in the making from the core songwriting duo of Matt Hensley (accordionist of Flogging Molly) and Sean Wheeler (vocalist of Throw Rag), playing music inspired by vintage ska & reggae with a touch of Conjunto accordion.
The band have just announced pre-orders for their debut LP Rude and Lovely, co-produced by The Aggrolites’ Roger Rivas, via Pirates Press Records. The LP is scheduled for release on July 10, 2026. The album is available for pre-order from Pirates Press Records (and Coretex Records in Europe). Lead single “Too Rad To Be Sad” is now streaming on all major platforms.
Although their best known projects are known for their distinctive takes on Celtic punk and desert punk, respectively, both Hensley & Wheeler have a deep love of classic Jamaican reggae & ska. Hensley even previously played guitar & keys in the early 90s ska band Spy Kids, several members of whom contribute to A-100s in the studio and onstage. Hensley first pitched the idea for A100s to Wheeler nearly a decade ago in 2017, framing it in the context of vintage ska & reggae sounds with a touch of Conjunto accordion. In the ensuing years, the duo worked on songwriting in between tours by their main bands, and Hensley worked on building a studio.
Over time, an impressive array of collaborators coalesced, and the combined pedigree of the band is truly legendary in the annals of underground music: members of Mariachi El Bronx, Mad Caddies, Smoke & Mirrors Sound System, and folks who have played alongside greats such as Jimmy Cliff, Symarip, Roddy Radiation, and even Tom Petty have all left their mark on this record!
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Canadian songwriter Spencer Krug returns with “Berserker Mode,” the second single from his forthcoming album Same Fangs, out May 15 on Pronounced Kroog. Where the album’s first offering leaned inward, “Berserker Mode” shifts the perspective outward. It’s restless, sharp, and a little unpredictable. A song about watching someone move through the world at full tilt, consequences trailing just behind them. Written in the summer of 2024 and first shared as a stripped piano demo, the track went through several iterations before landing in its final form. A synth version came and went. Another piano version reshaped the structure. What stuck was the pulse. A tight, percussive piano performance, locked in with percussion and lifted by the vocal presence of Elbow Kiss, which gives the song its sense of motion and release.
Lyrically, “Berserker Mode” centers on a familiar type. The friend you can’t quite reach, even when you’re right there beside them. The one who keeps blowing up their own life in slow motion, not out of malice, but momentum. They make enemies without meaning to. They move constantly, maybe because standing still would mean facing something harder.
They don’t really self-censor, and they don’t adjust course. They stick to the version of themselves they’ve chosen, even as it starts to crack. “Your only rose is your own secret rose,” Krug offers, a line that captures both the beauty and the distance at the core of the song. “Musically I love playing this one,” Krug says. “I love the groove. The shapes and patterns on the piano are incredibly pleasing to play, in terms of movement, ergonomics, and tactility. And it’s a fun one to sing.”
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| Photo - Derek Bremner |
UK-based risers Night Swimming share new single 'Nothing Safe Is Technicolour', the final reveal from their forthcoming second EP 'Melting, Sometimes Bleeding', out 22nd May via Venn Records. 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.
New single and EP opener 'Nothing Safe Is Technicolour' moves from a shadowy, trip-hop-leaning opening into a surge of crushing shoegaze, anchored by Meg Jones’ soft, close-up vocal - capturing the rush of new connection alongside a creeping sense of disorientation, as questions of perceived identity begin to surface ("Am I real, or a hologram?")
Speaking on the release of new single, vocalist and lyricist Meg Jones said: "‘Nothing Safe Is Technicolour’ is about opening yourself up again to love and also the possibility of being hurt. It is about meeting a person who sparks something in you, and makes you feel alive in a way you haven’t done for a long time. It is laced with unease at the idea of being rejected once the initial glow fades and less desirable parts of yourself are revealed. The song is a commitment to showing up as your full self, and expresses anxiety at the thought of losing yourself in an effort to meet another person’s needs or ideals."
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Valo Ato began as a series of loose studio sessions, where Melby's Matilda Wiezell and Lucifer Sunshine's Jonas Persson set out to explore ideas and genres they hadn’t previously had the space to pursue in other projects. What started as an open-ended experiment quickly took shape, evolving into a full five-piece featuring some of Stockholm’s most compelling indie musicians.
Drawing on influences from shoegaze and grunge, Valo Ato’s sound moves between hazy textures and heavier, more grounded passages, something the band themselves describe simply as “stoner indie.”
Jonas explains that the name Valo Ato is a tribute to his South Sámi family roots, combining Valovardo, the mountain behind the family’s summer house where he spent much of his childhood, and Atostugan, one of the first Sámi-built houses allowed to remain standing after his great-grandmother fiercely defended it from demolition. While the songs do not necessarily deal with these themes directly, the landscapes of Lapland remain a constant source of inspiration in the songwriting.
Debut single "1 & 1/2" is out now via Rama Lama Records. On May 30th Valo Ato plays the Echo Three Fest in Stockholm alongside Cabaret Voltaire, Bo Ningen, Makthaverskan, Ulrika Spacek and more.
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