Prolific singer-songwriter Dan Miraldi returns with his new single “Magic in the Air,” out now via Wicked Cool Records. Featuring garage rock queen Palmyra Delran, the track blends Miraldi’s heartfelt storytelling with bright, infectious power-pop energy—delivering a reminder that even the most ordinary moments can feel extraordinary.
Inspired by life in New York City, “Magic in the Air” finds Miraldi reflecting on fleeting encounters and small, transformative moments. “I like to leave interpretation to the listener,” he says. “But to me, it’s about finding joy in everyday life. The world can get you down, but every now and then something mundane can feel miraculous and empowering.” The song came together with unusual ease. “Sometimes you really have to wrestle with songs,” Miraldi explains, “but ‘Magic in the Air’ felt pretty effortless.”
That spontaneity carries through to the recording process. With the exception of live drums and Delran’s vocal, the track was recorded in Miraldi’s bedroom using GarageBand—capturing a raw, immediate energy. The recording also features contributions from Michael Guggino (Brooklyn psych trio Freaky Wilderness) on lead guitar and Jay Nemeyer (DC electro-rock outfit Color Palette) on bass, both longtime collaborators in Miraldi’s orbit.
Delran’s presence on the track adds both chemistry and emotional weight. “When I was writing the song, I could hear Palmyra’s voice singing it,” says Miraldi. “Having her actually on the recording is extremely special. She’s so talented and has been a constant source of encouragement for me.”
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Hamilton, ON’s Thomas Duxbury and New Mother Nature unveil Night is Young, a sprawling and deeply personal garage rock album released alongside its optimistic title track. Rooted in blues rock grit and indie rock exploration, the record captures the disorienting, often contradictory experience of navigating change, distance, and identity while learning to embrace both the chaos and beauty of the journey.
Written across years of transition (from busking through Spain to living abroad in Scotland), Night is Young documents a period of movement and emotional upheaval. “This album is about being on a journey,” Duxbury explains. “A lot of it comes from that feeling of being in the passenger seat of your own life sometimes. It’s that weird space where everything is kind of moving whether you’re ready for it or not.”
The album unfolds as a loose narrative arc, moving from early excitement and possibility into isolation, uncertainty, and eventual grounding. Themes of loneliness, mental health, and disconnection run throughout, but so does a persistent drive toward exploration and self-discovery. Rather than resolving neatly, Night is Young leans into contradiction as a reflection of real life in motion.
At the centre of the release is its title track, a song that encapsulates the album’s emotional core. Originally written in 2018 following a formative trip to Spain, “Night is Young” began as an upbeat, carefree anthem before evolving into something more complex. Years later, while living abroad, Duxbury revisited the track after receiving a distressing call from home; a moment that reshaped the song’s meaning entirely.
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| Photo - Michael Gomez |
Cold Equations - Tantalus.
Nashville-based indie shoegaze band Cold Equations releases its new single ‘Tantalus’ (Sweet Cheetah Records) last week. ‘Tantalus’ offers a guitar groove that faintly recalls Gentlemen-era Afghan Whigs, particularly if the Whigs had come with a southern drawl. As the track evolves into a more dense offering, hints of ’90s alt-radio stalwarts Radiohead, Toadies, and Howlin’ Maggie also emerge.
Lyrically, this is a story about the unreachable object of one’s desire. "'Tantalus' was inspired by the Greek myth," says Drew Kohl. "Tantalus was punished by standing forever in a shallow pool of water under a fruit tree. Whenever he got thirsty and reached down to cup some water, the water drained only to fill back again when he stood up. When he got hungry and reached for a piece of fruit on the tree, the tree branch rose just out of his reach and on and on. That's where the word 'tantalize' comes from. So, the song is about always being just out of reach of something you strongly desire.
"The song uses the G phrygian scale, and we layered guitars and rhodes electric piano on the instrumental sections," adds Kohl. "The solo uses the open G string as a drone, kind of like a expletive up version of 'thunderstruck' basically." True to their independent spirit, Cold Equations tracked the entire song in a single studio day at Nashville’s Smoakstack Studios (with Zack Zinck engineering and Sam Moses mastering), working efficiently within the constraints of an indie budget without compromising their artistic vision.
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With its fuzz-fuelled guitar licks, woozy vintage organs, trippy multi-layered harmonies, and hypnotic rhythms, the rising Midlands outfit deliver a radiant psych pop wonder. Striking an alchemic blend of psychedelia, indie, and vintage pop, one single “Have You Seen Her Tonight?” at once recalls the dreamy, pastoral creations of Gorky’s Zytgotic Mynci to The Coral, The Beach Boys to the Zombies.
Catchy, colourful, and with a crunching Super Furries-esque crescendo to boot, this is joyous psych-pop to put a spring in your step. Their long-awaited debut album, ‘Feel Your Mind’, is out now.
The Good Water are: Rob Clements (lead vocals/guitar), Tom Fisher (vocals/drums), and Stuart Webb (vocals/keyboards). Since forming in 2016, The Good Water have rapidly picked-up quite a following around their native Midlands with frequent Sold-Out headline shows in Birmingham, not to mention major support shows alongside psych-pop luminaries including Mercury Rev, Super Furry Animals, and Bill Ryder-Jones.
Securing praise and plays from the likes of Radcliffe & Maconie and Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music), John Kennedy (Radio X), and regular support from Brum Radio; their string of singles to date including “Firmament”, “Love”, “Breadcrumbs” “Colours” and more have been met with rave reviews from tastemaker sites, with Live4Ever hailing the band’s “fascinating explorations of sound and rhythm, designed to excite and explore.”
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Spirit Goth Records are pleased to share "Stay With Me," the new single from indie dream pop artist Castlebeat, out now and the latest preview of his forthcoming album Castlebeat II, arriving June 26th, 2026.
If the previous singles hinted at what Castlebeat II would feel like, "Stay With Me" makes it unmistakable. Built around bright, jangly Stratocaster lines and a loose, slacker-rock groove, it's an upbeat track that carries a quietly melancholic undercurrent — the sound of holding on while already sensing something slipping away. Josh Hwang's wistful, dreamy vocal carries the melody with an effortless intimacy that feels less performed than confided, and the hook arrives early and doesn't let go. It's the kind of song that fits easily into jangle pop and chill alt playlists, but lingers well past its runtime.
As Hwang puts it: "'Stay With Me' is an upbeat, home-recorded dream-pop single built around jangly Stratocaster lines and a laid-back slacker-rock feel. Lyrically it's about wanting someone to stick around when you can feel things starting to slip. Bright guitars, relaxed groove, and a hook that lands quickly."
"Stay With Me" is the third single from Castlebeat II, a record conceived as a ten-year anniversary reflection on Hwang's beloved 2016 self-titled debut. Josh Hwang — the half-Korean, half-Spanish songwriter and producer behind the project — approached the album as both a time capsule and a creative reset, deliberately returning to the sounds, instincts, and unfinished ideas of that era while bringing a decade of craft to bear on them.
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