Attention Humans! Cosmic rave-prog outfit HENGE return with “Brains”, the first single from their fifth studio album ‘Humans’, arriving 29 January 2027. Where previous album ‘Journey to Voltus B’ took listeners to a distant planet, ‘Humans’ plants HENGE firmly on Earth, with its apex inhabitants as the subject. "Human beings are intriguing to us," says HENGE front creature Zpor. "Your capacity for abstract thought, your creativity, is nothing short of astonishing.”
Lead single “Brains” channels rave and electro, powered by trouser-flapping bass from Venusian bass maestro Brother Goo. Groove-centric and casually delivered, it features a guitar solo that sounds like it is ripping through the fabric of the universe. "The human brain is truly a thing of wonder, and I naturally felt compelled to write an ode to it" explains Zpor.
The single follows a huge year for the band, with clips of “DNA” and “Mushroom One” racking up over 20 million views across platforms. ‘Humans’ will be accompanied by a world tour of 80+ dates across 25 countries, including the band's first shows in North America and Asia. Find the band’s UK dates below.
Extra-terrestrial joymongers HENGE have been delighting audiences on Planet Earth for over a decade, earning an Association of Independent Festivals 'Live Act of the Year' award and legions of fans along the way. They have four acclaimed albums and their own comic book series to their name. Their last album, Journey to Voltus B, sold out headline shows across the UK and Europe and earned support from BBC 6 Music's Stuart Maconie, Deb Grant and Craig Charles.
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The last few years have seen the rise of Newcastle country artist, Piper Butcher. After being crowned the inaugural winner of the CMAA Young Achiever Award, she didn’t slow down - she increased her output and took her music to the people, continually refining her songs by road testing them in front of live audiences across the globe. As a result, her maturity and evolving artistry are evident on her brand-new EP, “Directions”, due for release yesterdy Friday 23rd October 2026 through Community Music.
“I am so proud of this collection of music”,says Butcher. “This year I’ve taken a new direction with songwriting, being upfront and writing exactly what I’m thinking and feeling, rather than being metaphorical with every song. It has encouraged me to find inspiration in more places and delve deeper into other people's music to learn from as well. All of these songs are me down to a tee.”
Produced by Andy Mak (The McClymonts/Brooke & Adam), the EP showcases five original songs including co-writes with Austin Mackay and Kingswood’s Alex Laska, that not only grew their friendship but allowed Butcher to explore the scary feelings that were difficult to describe in song. The balance of the tracks sit between crazy ideas that woke her up at 2am begging to be heard and confronting feelings that flowed out when written in full.
The title, “Directions”, came from Butcher’s love of all musical genres. “I’ve always created music with the idea of serving the song and I wasn’t trying to stick to a certain sound or brand. But it’s evident to me now - I’m a country artist, through and through. And this feels like the first EP I’ve released that is cohesive and packed to the brim with my musical identity.” “I hope you love this EP. I feel like there’s a story for everyone; songs for people travelling in any direction of their life!”
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Flutterby had a magical beginning at its book premiere in Berne’s Stiftsgarten and has received many rave reviews. Kate Pearl’s lovingly illustrated fairy tale for children and adults touches audiences and has led to invitations for interviews and guest appearances on Radio. But Kate Pearl is not only an author. A musician and teacher who grew up in Ohio and has lived in the region of Emmental, near Berne, since 2001, she has been writing and performing music for many years under the name Just Pearls. And in many ways, it is the music that lies at the heart of Flutterby. “Although the book came first in terms of its release, it is really an accompaniment to —and an extension of — the album,” she explains.
Music has been a constant thread throughout Kate Pearl’s artistic life. Her musical journey has included collaborations with Balts Nill and Ursula Hotz of the Rodeo Ranchers, who have themselves worked with artists such as Tammy Wynette, Brent Moyer and Hans Holzherr. American songwriting legend Tom Paxton has also personally supported Kate Pearl’s work and her translation of his song “The Crow That Wanted To Sing”, included on this album (“Dr Chräie”).
Singing and writing in English, French, Standard Germanand Bernese German, she moves freely between musical worlds. Her songs have been described as combining the directness of Tracy Chapman with the poetic sensibility of Patti Smith and the distinctive energy of Courtney Barnett. Her latest single, “Comes Love,” received more than 400 plays on cultural radio stations around the world this summer, including numerous Swiss independent stations.
Now comes Flutterby— an album that brings together Kate Pearl’s songwriting with the work of a number of accomplished Swiss musicians. Among them is drummer and percussionist Dave Jutzi, who contributed to the soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean and has worked with Joe Cocker and Nils Burri, as well as Tom Gisler, known for collaborations with Bo Katzman, Nubya, Zia Lisa & Gattopardo and Mario Capitanio, and for his earlier work with Polo Hofer.
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BC singer-songwriter and “fairy songstress” Clara Cloud returned yesterday October 23 with As Above, her most ambitious project yet, a cinematic new album and companion novella that reimagines the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice from Eurydice’s perspective. Blending alternative, folk, pop, Celtic influences and dream-like textures, the album follows Eurydice from the world above into the Underworld, exploring love, loss, fate and the fragile possibility of hope. While Cloud’s debut album The Woods was rooted in reconnecting with the inner child and finding the light, As Above ventures into darker territory, asking whether there can be comfort in learning to live alongside the shadows rather than simply trying to escape them.
The album arrives alongside a novella of the same name, written by Cloud, which keeps readers at Eurydice’s side as she moves from nymph to wife to inhabitant of the Underworld. Together, the music and story challenge the familiar tragedy and imagine whether Eurydice might have more agency over her fate than mythology has traditionally allowed her. “Could there be a world in which Eurydice marches herself out of Hell and back into the arms of the one she loves?” Cloud asks. Produced by Sal Verma, Jenna Marie, Charlotte Duggan and Cloud herself, with mastering by Greg Mindorff and additional vocals from her real-life partner Tristan “TEEG.” Giroux, As Above creates a haunting, atmospheric world where mythology, nature and storytelling collide.
The project is already receiving recognition ahead of its release. Album track “Shadow Song” was selected through MusiCounts to become an educational arrangement for the 2027 CBC Music Class Challenge, with Cloud collaborating with composer Hope Salmonson on an arrangement that will be made available to educators across Canada in winter 2026/27. Originally from Kimberley and now based in BC’s Kootenays, Cloud has built her work around the belief that music and storytelling can create worlds of their own. With As Above, she takes that idea further than ever, inviting listeners not simply to hear Eurydice’s story, but to descend into the Underworld alongside her and consider whether even the oldest stories might still have another ending.
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Junior VP - American Optimism.
Glasgow indie-rock trio Junior VP return with their new single ‘American Optimism’ yesterday October 23rd, the latest track to be taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘Do You Feel The Same?’, due in 2027. Following the release of July’s ‘Red Cardigan’, which picked up support from RTE, Total Rock and KUTX, American Optimism sees Junior VP lean further into the melodic, emotionally charged indie that has quickly become their calling card.
Since forming in 2025, Junior VP have quickly built momentum. The debut studio EP ‘Head Full of Sadness’ arrived in May 2026, earning national airplay from BBC Introducing and saw the band shortlisted for Kerrang Radio’s The Deal competition. The band’s name is taken from the distinctly American position of ‘Junior Vice President’, paying tribute to the golden era of American college rock, emo and indie that inspires their sound. Through pop hooks and expansive guitar sounds, Junior VP blends the emotional immediacy of the early 2000s with a modern melodic edge.
“We can’t escape the music that influenced us growing up,” says vocalist Ross. “There’s a real 2000s nostalgia in our music that seems to connect with people who lived through that era and those discovering it for the first time.”
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Released this weekend we have the new single "Happy" by Minnesota born Tulsa Oklahoma based award-winning singer-songwriter Casii Stephan. Written late at night out of a string of existential questions, "Happy" features a catchy hook that asks what it actually means to be happy. The track is carried by Casii’s warm, soulful voice and a retro, sunlit production from Chad Copelin (SPORTS, BRONCHO, Ben Rector). "Happy" emerges as the first offering from Casii Stephan's debut album Let Her Have Her Flowers set for release spring 2027. Written in the wake of her father's death, the album is an exploration of what it means to grieve those we've lost and love those who are still here.
Casii Stephan is hard to pin down—to genre, that is. To Casii, genre has always felt more like a tool to tell a story or evoke an emotion than a category to fit into. Anytime someone has said she’s found her “niche,” no one has ever told her the same thing twice.
Born and raised in funky Minnesota and cultivated in rootsy Tulsa, Casii is carving her own space in music—just don’t ask her to label it. Best described as somewhere between pop, soul, and rock, she has also been embraced by the folk community for her love of storytelling. Casii writes her songs honestly, from the depths of her emotions, with themes including life and death, love and loss, protest, and pushing back on negative societal norms like sexism, ageism, and fascism.
In 2026 she has received recognition for her songwriting from the International Acoustic Music Awards winning Best AAA/Alternative Song for “California Gold”, finalist for Best Rock Song with the International Songwriting Competition, the coveted “New Folk Finalist” from Kerrville Folk Fest with two unreleased songs off her upcoming debut album, and most recently a finalist for Best Rock Song at the Unsigned Only Music Awards.
She has toured regionally and internationally, including London’s inaugural SXSW, and has performed multiple official SXSW and Folk Alliance showcases, and just performed her first official showcase at AMERICANAFEST in Sept. She has been profiled by Billboard, NPR, SPIN, and American Songwriter. Her catalog is with TRO Essex Music Publishing, home to writers like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and bands like The Who and Black Sabbath. Her EP Relationship Status, produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes, St Paul and the Broken Bones), was released in September 2024 on Shamus Records to rave reviews.
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