Earthquake Lights - Carasueño - Aaron MacDonald - Kyla Marlena - Schaefer Llana - Phoebe Green

Earthquake Lights - Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be.

Ahead of their upcoming fourth studio album’s 2027 arrival, New York’s Earthquake Lights share “Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be,” a confident, brooding new single that turns psychedelic alt-rock swagger into a character study of arrogance, narcissism and questionable wisdom. Inspired in part by the unruly spirit of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the track inhabits the mind of a self-described artist whose certainty in his own worldview is as compelling as it is misguided.

The song began with a handful of chords the band initially considered disposable. Once they played them together, however, the feeling proved too good to abandon. The confidence of the emerging arrangement soon suggested a personality of its own, providing the foundation for vocalist/pianist Myles Rodenhouse and collaborator Will Cavanaugh to develop the character at the centre of the song.

The result is a narrator who is arrogant, self-important, and convinced he has life figured out. Yet rather than reducing him to a caricature, “Mr. Always-What-He-Had-To-Be” leaves a small but uncomfortable possibility hanging in the air: somewhere beneath all that narcissistic bluster, he might actually have a point. The question is whether he’s someone whose advice you would ever want to take.

The song’s unusual title emerged from one of its defining lyrics, a line that seemed to capture the character so completely that it ultimately sparked the broader lyrical concept. That sense of self-assurance permeates the arrangement as well, allowing the personality of the narrator and the music surrounding him to become increasingly difficult to separate.

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Photo - Álex Ortega

Carasueño - Microdreams.

Where does the latent content of a dream begin, and where does its manifest content end? Are the adventures we experience in our dreams part of a collective unconscious, or merely electrical impulses giving voice to our individual fears and shortcomings? ‘Microdreams’ raises more questions than it answers. Through its lyrics, Javier Vicente emerges as restless and apprehensive, yet simultaneously enthralled by the yearning images that linger in his memory the morning after.

Javier Vicente is Carasueño, a musician and producer based in Zaragoza, Spain, and the founder of Lar de Maravillas recording studios. Following his debut full-length, I’ll Be Neon Too (2024, Cielos Estrellados) — an inward-looking musical world in which Brian Wilson, Bradford Cox, The Notwist and Brian Eno coexisted in a glorious sonic implosion — Carasueño now joins the Great Canyon Records family.

To mark the occasion, he unveils ‘Microdreams’, the first single from his forthcoming EP, Tiny Islands, due for release on 13 November. Produced, recorded and mixed by Carasueño himself, ‘Microdreams’ bridges unorthodox Americana and bedroom pop, weaving intricate syncopated string arrangements around the warm, unmistakable tones of a Wurlitzer.

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Photo - Meghan Tansey Whitton

Aaron MacDonald - Big Red Sky (EP).

On his new EP Big Red Sky, Aaron MacDonald continues to prove why he’s one of the east coast of Canada’s most popular singer-songwriters. Based in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Aaron’s most recent accolades area 2026 ECMA win for Fans’ Choice Video of the Year (“Beaches &Bands”), and multiple Music Nova Scotia Awards nominations, including Country Recording of the Year, for his 2025 EP It’s In My Blood.

Aaron is carrying that momentum forward on Big Red Sky, with its six songs drawn from long drives, hard lessons and the bright chaos of family life. Produced by Jamie Foulds at Sound park Studios in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the EP features Aaron backed bya four-piece band that includes Foulds on keyboards along with guests, creating a sound that is equal parts folk grit and country soul. In total, Big Red Sky reaffirms Aaron’s place among a generation of songwriters from the Maritimes who understand that honest stories still cut the deepest.“

I am on a mission to record and document this life of mine through song,” Aaron says. "A few years ago, as our oldest kids started leaving home, I had a bit of a realization—I’ve written hundreds of songs over the years, but songs don't really exist until they’re recorded. It hit me that life moves fast, and if I wanted these stories to outlive me, I had to start documenting them properly. I want my kids, grandkids, family and friends to always be able to hear the stories that made up my life. That’s really what drives me now.”

Aaron makes that point clear on Big Red Sky’s first single “Makin’ Time,” a classic road song that also serves as a metaphor for getting the most out of what we’ve been given. Other highlights from the EP include “Be,” inspired by Aaron’s return to Cape Breton after living in other parts of Canada, “Kind Phenomenon,” written for his wedding in 2003 but not recorded “properly” until now, and “Horizon Line,” a song that brings the story of he and his wife up to date as they embrace life as empty nesters.

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Photo - Tess Disturnal

Kyla Marlena - Bit the Bullet.

Hold Time, the debut album by Toronto-based cellist and songwriter Kyla Marlena, finds her embracing unpredictability, collaboration and the full weight of the human condition.

The record, out November 6th via Idee Fixe, marks a significant departure for Marlena, who spent her early years writing instrumental compositions before teaching herself guitar and moving into songwriting. The result is a devastating, graceful and remarkably assured collection of songs about love, loss, memory and the relentless passage of time.

New single 'Bit the Bullet' injects an almost euphoric energy into a story of heartbreak. Of the track, she says: "Bit the Bullet felt like infusing some levity into a heartbreak story. I gave myself permission to be less self-analytical and to give voice to more immature notions of love. A lyric like " guess that I'm the winner, I had the final say" is not a real belief I hold. There are no winners and losers. But it felt liberating to express "forbidden" thoughts.

The energy in the studio was especially high for this one and it felt important to keep in idiosyncratic moments captured in the recording. Playful moments caught by room mics, for example, felt integral to the song by the end."

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Photograph - Kaylee Vaughan

Schaefer Llana - Skateland Baby.

Schaefer Llana will release her label debut, Full Circle, on November 13, 2026 via Strolling Bones Records. The 10-song set was produced by Llana and Starlin Browning and recorded at Matt Patton of the Drive-By Truckers’ Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi. The captivating debut is lush and literate, meditative and dreamy, and radiates a languorous Southern heat as it drifts between past and present, connection and isolation, love and loss. Llana delivers her songs with a tender, almost casual ease, and the result is a cinematic slice of alt-Americana. 
 
Born in Missouri, Llana moved to Mississippi as a child where she spent her formative years first singing in church. After high school, she headed deeper into the cradle of American music to study at Delta State University. It’s there where she fell in with a likeminded crew of artists and writers and landed a job working at the recording studio Dial Back Sound. She says, “Matt Patton gave me real opportunities early on. I worked at the studio for several years as an engineer and would record background vocals for anyone who came to record there.” 

That’s how she met Jimbo Mathus, best known as a founding member of Squirrel Nut Zippers (and more recently for his work with the Black Keys). Mathus was a fellow Mississippi native who took an immediate shine to her voice, first asking her to sing on records he was producing and then later inviting her to join his band on the road for several years. Full Circle features two songs written by Mathus and he also appears on its lead off track. 
 
One of those songs, is the album highlight “Skateland Baby.” Llana says, "'Skateland Baby' is a song written by Jimbo Mathus about a first love. He says it’s about holding her hand and 'skating around the rink one way…and then the other.' I used to play this song a lot when I was in his band on the road, and I was drawn to it because it felt timeless. Everyone knows the bliss of falling. Skateland tells you where he lands." 

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Photo - Isobel Clark

Phoebe Green - PREMATURE NOSTALGIA (Album).

Manchester's Phoebe Green today releases new album PREMATURE NOSTALGIA, via The Green Dream Machine / Absolute. The album releases follows the previously shared singles 'Clothes Still On', 'There's Always Someone Kicking The Seat' and 'Polluting You With Me'. Phoebe Green plays an album release show at Rough Trade East in London on 6th October.

Previously unheard album focus single 'I Don’t Play It Cool, I Play It Steaming', is a brilliantly over-the-top alt-pop duet with Picture Parlour’s Katherine Parlour, born from a long-running joke between the pair that they should one day write a "big gay" duet together. Trading vocals across the track, Green and Parlour lean fully into its sense of yearning and theatricality.

Written and produced alongside her sister Lucy Green (aka Elucyve) - a producer of contemporary classical and electronic music in her own right - PREMATURE NOSTALGIA was created between the flat the pair share in Manchester and their parents' home in Lytham St Annes. Across the album, Phoebe and Lucy draw inspiration from artists such as Imogen Heap, Oklou, Jockstrap, James Blake, FKA twigs and Sega Bodega - embracing warped electronics, fragmented structures and experimental forms of pop songwriting.

Speaking about the album, Phoebe said: "‘PREMATURE NOSTALGIA’ explores the feeling of missing a moment before it’s over, grieving the present in real time and trying to retain every detail of an encounter so that the memory is always intact and in full colour. My sister Lucy and I composed, produced and recorded this album in our flat in Manchester, it holds such sentimental value and is a real amalgamation of both of our influences, perspectives and individual style; dreamy, heavy, dramatic synths and confessional lyrics that document the beautiful and messy experience of living."

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Kate Prascher - Nicole Atkins - Earthquake Lights - Next Week’s Washing - beabadoobee - Kelly Hunt - Baileigh Jane - The Spongetones

Photo - Sander Randall

Kate Prascher - Retrograde.

Kate Prascher has released the final single from her highly anticipated sophomore album ‘Sunday Afternoon,’ out August 28 on First City Artists (Alexa Rose, Carly King). On “Retrograde,” Prascher’s delicate howl is comforting and consuming as ever. She shares, “‘Retrograde’ is a kind of lullaby and spell for the times when things seem to be moving backwards. True to its name, this song took reflection and patience to get right in the studio, but the addition of Ben Garnett and his resonant guitar licks, pointed the track in the right direction.”

Co-produced by Diana Walsh (Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Wild Rivers), Prascher’s new album boasts the eerie elegance she’s known for, while calling esteemed comparisons to mind—the classic country soprano of Allison Krauss; the dark, dusty Americana of Gillian Welch; the bright melodicism of Madison Cunningham. Prascher will perform her new material at Big Lawn Festival in Poughkeepsie on August 22, and at O+ Festival in Kingston October 9-11. 

Prascher was raised in Memphis, a childhood steeped in spiritual storytelling. “Where I’m from, it’s expected for the people in your life who’ve passed to show up again, one way or another,” she says. In adulthood, she carried that experience to New York City and embraced the lively vibrance of the city’s Bluegrass scene, taking mandolin lessons from Michael Daves and joining open sessions at staple venues like The Jalopy, Mona's, Sunny's. Prascher wrote about half the songs on ‘Sunday Afternoon’ while she was living in Brooklyn—the rest, after she left. 

“I’m interested in how environment informs identity,” she shares. “Leaving New York was a reckoning for me. I moved there out of ambition. If I left, could I still consider myself ambitious?” Now based upstate, she’s grateful for the opportunity to answer that question. “My life is less about chasing one thing, and more about grounded rituals, the practices of work and creation. I can hear myself more clearly. I know what I want to say.” 

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Photo - Barbara FG

Nicole Atkins - Trippin’ on Teardrops.

Nicole Atkins has shared the official music video for her latest single, 'Trippin’ on Teardrops.' Filmed on location in a historic turn-of-the-century mansion in her home state of New Jersey, 'Trippin’ on Teardrops' marks the opening track on Atkins’ eagerly awaited new album 'Drama', arriving via Sun Records/Wicked Game Records on 18th September.
 
“I wrote ‘Trippin’ on Teardrops’ during a long period of time where I was having all these insane sleep issues,” Nicole Atkins says. “Never being able to fall asleep and then waking up sometimes after two days of sleep. It was like a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. Burnout? Maybe. Depression? Mostly because of sleep issues. And it was at a time where it seemed like the world was business as usual and I was watching it all go by in my dreams".   
 
“After wrestling with what this song wanted to be for a while, I had the chorus. Like an SOS. Then my good old pal Peter Morén from Peter Bjorn and John was visiting Nashville, and we were writing, and I showed him this chorus, which he loved, and I just put down the verse words which I thought I’d replace because I was almost embarrassed at how pitiful they sounded but that was just the state of my life at that time. Lonely and dreaming and wishing things were different. The person I was missing most was myself, but sometimes it just takes a good friend to shine a light to get ya through it.” 

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Earthquake Lights - Too Late feat. Nicole Zuraitis.

Ahead of their upcoming fourth studio album’s 2027 arrival, New York’s Earthquake Lights share “Too Late” (feat. Nicole Zuraitis), a soulful, sophisticated new single that pairs timeless songwriting with modern alternative rock production. Drawing equally from classic soul, neo-classical composition, and contemporary rock, the track tells the story of two people drifting apart, with each voice offering a different perspective on the same relationship. The result is a poignant meditation on longing, regret, and the quiet realization that some moments cannot be reclaimed.

Inspired by the music of Norah Jones and vintage soul records, “Too Late” began as a melody at the piano before gradually revealing the emotional story it wanted to tell. Rather than approaching the lyrics first, the band allowed the music to dictate the narrative, ultimately shaping a duet that feels both intimate and universal.

“We always write the music first and fit the lyrics into the melody,” vocalist/pianist Myles Rodenhouse explains. “This one started at the piano, sung to gibberish and the phrase ‘It's too late.’ I further fleshed it out with the band before we asked Nicole to collaborate and sing on the track.”

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Next Week’s Washing - Where Did I Go Wrong.

Toronto indie quintet Next Week’s Washing share “Where Did I Go Wrong,” an exhilarating new single that pairs soaring shoegaze textures with driving alternative rock. Serving as the latest preview of the band’s forthcoming second EP, the track captures the uncertainty of growing up in a rapidly changing world, exploring the self-doubt, anxiety, and search for identity that define a generation growing up in unprecedented times.

“It’s about trying to find yourself and becoming the person you want to be at a strange time in the world,” explains singer Miles Duffy. “There’s a level of anxiety and self-doubt that comes with being young nowadays, and we felt like it’s an important thing to write about because we’re all experiencing this culture firsthand.”

Written from the perspective of young people navigating an increasingly uncertain future, “Where Did I Go Wrong” reflects the quiet internal questions that often accompany growing older. Rather than offering easy answers, the song embraces uncertainty itself, examining what it means to search for purpose while constantly questioning your place in the world. That perspective has become a defining principle behind the band’s songwriting, as they continue documenting the emotional realities of their generation through honest, relatable storytelling.

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Photo - Erika Kamano

beabadoobee - Memories.

beabadoobee has released “Memories,” the latest song from her hugely anticipated forthcoming album Pylon, due for release on September 18, 2026 via Dirty Hit / Interscope Records. beabadoobee recently gave “Memories” its live debut during a short run of US shows that included talked-about performances at Lollapalooza and Hinterland festivals, as well as a headline show at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Bea describes “Memories” as “one of the happiest songs on the album,” but one where she falls deep into a spiral of romanticizing bygone moments, “clinging onto ideas that should make me happy but actually make me feel sad, because I wish they were just moments I lived in forever.”

The song is indicative of the raw and sometimes uncomfortably real songwriting on Pylon, a record that’s more wide-ranging and complex than anything that she has ever put out—a tannic rock record that is, at various points, angry, lonesome, ecstatic, depressed and deeply, pathologically in love. Laus, who poured her life into songs as a teenager for the world to hear, says the album is the result of writing alone in hotel rooms, which “reminded me a lot of how I wrote songs at 17, alone in my bedroom, feeling sad.

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Photo - makemade

Kelly Hunt - All The King’s Horses.

Memphis artist Kelly Hunt has shared the second single from her forthcoming album, 'Requiem for a Sleepless Night,' out September 18 on Compass Records. Gentle and melodically surprising, “All The King’s Horses” takes an alternative angle on a classic tale, with Hunt’s fluttering vocals as emotionally arresting as her lyrical premise. 

“The Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme popped into my head one day out of the blue,” she shares. “It had always struck me as a cautionary tale: this is what happens when you take risks—you end up in pieces, beyond repair. But the more I pondered, the more I wondered...what if he had a very good reason to climb that wall? What if whatever was on the other side was well worth the risk? What if he’s a hero, not a fool?” 

…a heart is better busted wide
Than a wall that you just hide behind 
Better to climb and take the fall 
Than to never love no one at all. 

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Baileigh Jane - Smash Your TV.

Baileigh Jane returns with “Smash Your TV,” a breezy, soulfully psychedelic slice of beach rock arriving Friday, August 21. Coastal without feeling escapist, “Smash Your TV” is rooted in the idea that sometimes freedom is remarkably simple: turn down the noise, step outside and pay attention.
  
At its heart, “Smash Your TV” serves as a reminder that life is taking place beyond the screen and beyond the stories we construct inside our own heads — somewhere physical, strange, multidimensional, and alive. Baileigh Jane’s answer is simple: go meet it. Rather than offering another version of digital-age cynicism, Baileigh approaches the sentiment with lightness. The song finds its optimism in presence — in reconnecting with the body, the natural world and the parts of ourselves that can become harder to hear beneath the constant hum of everyday life.

Dreamy guitars and twang-tinged riffs drift through a loose, soulful groove, giving “Smash Your TV” the feeling of an afternoon near the water with nowhere particularly urgent to be. Its laid-back exterior carries a deeper undercurrent: an invitation to let go of rigid thinking, rediscover wonder in small things and become more receptive to the world as it is happening.

For Baileigh, that balance between introspection and ease is increasingly becoming a defining part of their sound. Recent releases have drawn more visibly from their Florida roots, bringing the coast into both the music and the world surrounding it. Where previous single “Do You Feel the Same Way” began establishing that landscape, “Smash Your TV” sinks further into it, embracing the unhurried spirit of shore life.

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The Spongetones - The Music At The Close.

Power Pop Hall Of Famers The Spongetones continue their 2026 series of all new singles with the latest installment: the darkly cautionary tale "The Music At The Close." In true Spongetones style, the tune packs hooks and harmonies galore into a three-minute pop gem telling the tale of a doomed voyage that may just be a metaphor for modern times. 

A thrilling change of pace from the hits that have preceded it on the indie airwaves this year ("Lifetimeline," "(I Really Need) To Kiss You" and "So Long"), it's out August 21 on all digital platforms.

“The Music At The Close” makes it four. Kicking of with minor key guitar arpeggios and the tellingly timely lyrics “Ignorance and innocence, the belles of last year's ball / Look on in consternation as we play the hand they dealt,” it's a distinctly different animal from the last few singles. Where “So Long” boasted Zombies-like whimsy, “(I Really Need) To Kiss You” radiated youthful exuberance, and “Lifetimeline” floated on sweetly psychedelic swirls of sound, the new song bespeaks a kind of tensely apocalyptic resignation. 

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