Victoria Akua - Eve Goodman & SERA - McCabe - Jonathan Jeremiah - Lloyd & The Leftovers - Maygen & The Birdwatcher

Photo -  Camilla Vodstrup Øverup

Victoria Akua - You Remind Me.

Victoria Akua from Copenhagen, Denmark, releases her new single „You Remind Me“ on July 11, 2025 via Greywood Records. Victoria describes her music as a genre mix of indie pop, folky singer-songwriter and meditative music. Victoria Akua on her new single: "‘You Remind Me’ was inspired by an experience I had of being reminded how to look at myself with softness and kindness, by looking into the loving eyes of a friend. At the same time the song is also about being courageous enough to accept oneself, even when others don’t get you or share the same point of view. - Victoria Akua

Victoria's music is based on her own journey, which began at a young age, searching for more balance and a deeper peace and understanding within herself. In a hectic world where it is so easy to be pulled in many directions, she wants to find ways to stay centered with an open heart in the hope that her music can support others on their own paths.

The intention of the music is to have a nourishing, calming and healing effect. Music that comes from the heart and that reflects and creates inner peace, trust and self-love - and connects us.

Her music is inspired by the rhythms and cycles of nature, healthy and nurturing connections between people and creating spaces for expression, creativity and loving energy. Through the simplicity of the music, the listener is invited directly into a calm cocoon where breathing becomes deeper and the mind can rest.

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Eve Goodman & SERA - Blodyn Gwyllt.

Blodyn Gwyllt (‘Wildflower’ in English) is the first in a run of singles by singer-songwriters Eve Goodman and SERA from their upcoming collaborative album, Natur, due for release in the Autumn of 2025.  Blodyn Gwyllt is about being true to your nature and living freely. It is also a celebration of both our natural environment and women (two themes that run alonsgide each other throughout the album).   

The duo share this ‘West Coast’ folk-rock inspired track just in time for the summer. Alongside their harmonious vocals and guitars, the track features pedal steel (Gwyndaf Williams) and bass guitar from co-producer Colin Bass (member of Camel and also producer of the Tincian album from 9 Bach which won ‘Best Album’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award in 2015). 

The song was recorded at Wild End Studio near Llanrwst, North Wales.  Eve Goodman and SERA began working together after they were selected as BBC Horizons Artists in 2019. Both folk singer-songwriters, with rising solo careers and both had grown up in Caernarfon. Being part of Horizons brought them together and after just one writing session they found common ground in their connection and curiosity for nature. Surrounded by the beautiful North Wales landscape that is such an important part of their lives and Inspired by the Lost Words - Spells Songs project, they began to explore the Welsh names for birds and trees, flowers and fish. 

The song tendrils soon grew to touch upon the cyclical element of both nature and women, and soon enough a body of work was growing, each song a hymn of love to both.  2020 started off as an exciting year for the pair, performing on Heno, then live at BBC Maida Vale Studios, and released two popular tracks (Gaeafgwsg and Rhwng y Coed) which were playlisted on BBC Radio Cymru. Of course, Covid lockdown hit, and the project paused for a few years. Thanks to a Ty Cerdd Lottery grant  and then the Horizons launchpad fund, the two were able to make time to write the remaining tracks for their album, they took part in Can i Gymru 2023 with Tangnefedd, then went into the studio.

SERA · Blodyn Gwyllt

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McCabe - Sunset Boulevard (Album).

The wait is finally over for fans of London’s experimental soul-artist McCabe as he drops his debut album Sunset Boulevard on July 11th. Blending vintage Motown sounds and emotive string-based pop with darker, experimental excursions into dub and trip-hop, McCabe’s debut LP navigates themes of love, loss, stardom, madness, and paranoia across ten meticulously crafted tracks. The album stands as a truly genre-bending odyssey, refusing categorisation as it weaves between pop, soul, R&B, indie, electronic, and avant-garde sensibilities with fearless originality. 

"Throughout the process, the intent was to marry my love of pop music and experimental music," McCabe explains. "I threw the idea of traditional songwriting structures out of the window and chose a free-flowing, stream of consciousness approach instead, improvising many of the lyrics in the early stages and letting the song direct me rather than me directing the song."

From the sun-drenched melancholy of 'Vicious' to the west coast-inspired title track, ‘Sunset Boulevard’ showcases McCabe's artistic depth and versatility. However, it's the focus track 'Borderline' that reveals McCabe at his most cinematic – a lush soundscape featuring warm, velvety strings and infectious guitars beneath his hypnotic vocals. "Borderline is about being betrayed by friends in a time of need and the feeling of not fitting into the musical and social landscape but continuing on anyway with the belief that one day it will all be understood," McCabe shares. Masterfully fusing soul elements with indie influences like The Smiths or The Strokes, McCabe creates a compelling centerpiece that encapsulates the album's emotional core.

Brought to life in collaboration with acclaimed producer Patrick James Fitzroy, (known for his work with Sorry, Katy J Pearson, and PVA) this ambitious hi-fi production features contributions from 17 musicians, including David Zbirka (Drum Store Romeos) on drums and Nat Phillipps (Crack Cloud) on saxophone. "It was a great experience working with Patrick," McCabe reflects. "We both have very different qualities. He is very technical and detail-focused while I am more stream of consciousness and untrained in my approach." The creative journey wasn't without challenges – at one point, a studio blackout led to lost files that Fitzroy had to meticulously reconstruct. "One expects the making of an album to have these incidents," he adds, "and it adds a character unto the world in which it exists."

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Photo - Glenn Dearing

Jonathan Jeremiah - Kolkata Bear.

With “Kolkata Bear,” Jonathan Jeremiah announces his new album We Come Alive, set for release on November 7th via [PIAS] Recordings. A musical statement full of soul, suspense, and cinematic grandeur, the track is energetic and charged, driven by dramatic strings, lush arrangements, and layered choirs—all held together by Jeremiah’s unmistakable baritone voice: warm, direct, and stirring. 

Thematically, the British singer-songwriter weaves together family history and imagination. “Kolkata Bear” was inspired by a story his father told him about Jeremiah’s grandmother, who—as a child—had a bear as a pet. This animal companion lived on a farm in India before being given to a prince’s zoo. This surreal anecdote, combined with the loss of his beloved dog Lilly, became the starting point for a song that oscillates between memory, grief, and strength. 

The upcoming album We Come Alive presents a seasoned songwriter at the height of his expressive power—personal, bold, and stylistically expansive. The record was created between a remote farmhouse studio in Somerset (UK) and the bustling Oost district of Amsterdam. The result is a musical patchwork of European pop history, warm soul, orchestral richness, and intimate moments. 

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Photo - Paris Williams

Lloyd & The Leftovers - Spin The Wheel.

Lloyd & The Leftovers take a moment to get honest in their debut album's title track, 'Spin The Wheel', and explore the daydream in its companion music video, both out this weekend. Their debut album will follow on Friday, August 8. Hailing from Walyalup (Western Australia), Lloyd & the Leftovers are five-piece indie-folk/rock band that take the sounds of americana and adds an Australian twist.  Known for their vibrant live shows and DIY recordings, they've left their mark on the scene at festivals like In The Pines RTRFM Festival and the City of Fremantle Winter Festival, and see a range of support from Apple Music, ABC Country, Double J, RTR FM, AAA Backstage and many more

Harmonica and unconventional percussion add a country twang to Lloyd & The Leftovers' indie folk/rock sound in their album's title track 'Spin The Wheel'. Built from strings of emotions, this single is packed with the authenticity that Lloyd & The Leftovers is known for. With vocals packed with longing, singer-songwriter Luke Giglia-Smith takes a walk through a love confession: 

"I want the song to give a sense of longing for someone and weighing up feelings for someone who lives that same life of working on the road, always being far away from home and out of service, counting the days until you can get back and lift all the weight of these feelings off your chest."

Shot like a short film, the music video dives into a daydream of a fish and chip shop worker as she finds escapism in a love story with herself and a customer at the centre. Contrasting the dull tones of a fish and chip shop with the warm and sun-soaked colours of the day dream, the girl imagines a life with the man, complete with arguments  and apologies, dances and drives, until she comes back into reality at the end, simply exchanging a smile with him.


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Maygen & The Birdwatcher - Elizabeth.
 
This week, the Minnesota-based group Maygen & The Birdwatcher announce that their sophomore LP The Americana Dream will be released on October 10 via Yellow House Music Collective / Missing Piece Records. It reimagines the traditional definition of the American Dream, shifting away from the aspirational nature of the concept itself and moving towards a full embrace of the literal definition of Americana – the vast geographical, historical and cultural expanse that reflects Maygen & The Birdwatcher’s roots as well as this country as a whole.

Alongside the album’s announcement, the band is releasing cathartic new single “Elizabeth,” which pairs Maygen Lacey’s soft voice with a high energy banjo and a bouncy fiddle to sing about someone who is unequivocally magnetic but is perhaps concealing something more ominous. The group will continue touring through the summer and into the fall with a variety of headline and festival dates. They will also travel south later this year for a series of visits to Americana radio stations such as Nashville’s WMOT and Louisville’s WFPK who have invited them to play on-air sessions. See below for a full list of dates.

“‘Elizabeth’ is the North Star of our next musical chapter,” shares Lacey. “She’s the one that is helping us break down some genre barriers while also bringing along our favorite parts of where we’ve already musically been. Elizabeth is the one that you let take too much from you. The one you let dishevel all your hard lines in the sand. And maybe you’re ok with that, because she has that certain charm and confidence about her that keeps you wanting to stay within reach. Only through time can you make sense that her confidence and insistence on the limelight was her mask for self-consciousness.” 

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Purple Pilgrims - The Velveteins - Maygen & The Birdwatcher - Alicia Stockman - M. Byrd

Purple Pilgrims - Ancestors Watching.

Sister duo Purple Pilgrims have released the third part of a trilogy of Super 8 films that were made with friend and fellow musician Gary War. ‘Ancestors Watching’ is taken from the band’s album Perfumed Earth which was released via Flying Nun Records in what seems like another world; pre-pandemic. Due to one thing or another the sisters were delayed in releasing the third instalment, then with the emergence of Covid-19, it was temporarily lost to the archives. This is the final piece of Purple Pilgrims’ current story left to share.

“The video is our take on an ancient ritual. We were thinking about folkloric traditions, and of course our ancestors. The song is largely about being kind to oneself, and the idea that muddling our way through life can feel less daunting when we consider all our family branching out behind us, holding wisdom and strength. It’s an idea that can offer comfort when we’re feeling lost. We had this really simple idea loosely based around a maypole dance - the ancient celebration of oncoming warmer weather and new growth. May celebrations are so optimistic, always looking forward - which felt fitting as the song itself is about a new beginning too in a way.”

 this video was filmed by Gary War in the summer of 2019, freely on a hillside in Tāmaki Makaurau, with their ancestors watching on (amused we presume). Concept and art direction by Clementine and Valentine Nixon and makeup by Jessica Hunt.

As Purple Pilgrims, sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon make music that is at once spacious and sensual, swooning and spellbound. The sisters’ intertwined voices soar and slow dive, radiating a rich spectrum of experience: journeys, homecomings, and great longing.

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The Velveteins - Cosmic Saturation.

Soaked in the bright psychedelia of the 1960’s and dipped in the indie rock explosion of the new millennium, The Velveteins are best described as a bridge between the two. Inspired after living out of a camper van on the beaches of Australia for a year, frontman Spencer Morphy returned to Canada and started the band with co-songwriter Addison Hiller in 2014. Later joined by Dean Kheroufi and Danger Sedmak, the foursome have since made a name for themselves for their incendiary live performances.

Radiating hazy energy, “Cosmic Saturation” has a trippy, laxed aura with a structurally, pop-rock sensibility. The vintage twangs on the guitars surf over an ocean of edgy, quirky melodies and soft drums that lend to a more modern indie feel. The vocals maintain a relaxed feel allowing the subtle, psychedelic atmosphere to stand out next to charming, gritty guitar riffs.

While travelling across the USA, the band were exposed to a colorful palette of sights and sounds, with a fusion of delirium, euphoria and chaos spinning the web of inspiration for their new single. Morphy shares, “Cosmic Saturation was largely inspired by our lives at the time, being constantly travelling and the lifestyle we were living playing so many shows. Driving across the country from the east to west coast, watching the interstates fly by in the dawn.” Keeping the themes of their tracks very much in the present day, their sonic taste buds draw them back to the classic flavours of the 60s, resulting in a throwback sound reminiscent of Babe Rainbow, Foxygen and Deerhunter.

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Maygen & The Birdwatcher - Jigsaw.

Minnesota based folk turned genre-bending Americana-Newgrass duo Maygen & The Birdwatcher, have just released "Jigsaw," the track is an "honest look at the dynamics of what family life really is.

Maygen Lacey is an accomplished, Midwest CMA nominated singer/songwriter with millions of streams on Spotify from listeners around the world. Noah Neumann is a wicked talented guitar virtuoso with a taste for Delta Blues. The combination of the two is Maygen & The Birdwatcher, an indie-folk duo turned genre-bending Americana-Newgrass and Soul experience you need to hear!

In many respects, Maygen and Noah couldn’t be more different. From upbringing and musical taste to the Minneapolis vs Saint Paul debate, there are few things these two agree on. The short list includes: sarcasm, the great outdoors, quality beer, and having a good ‘ol time. Maygen & Noah’s 2018 debut album, “The People We Don’t Choose,” drew on their distinctly different musical influences including Brandi Carlile, Florence + The Machine, and Balmorhea to create a collection of songs that explored family, addiction, loss and navigating the people in their lives. With heartbreak and hope intertwined throughout, it was very well received. Its single, “Comeback” currently spins on local radio, including The Current’s Radio Heartland

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Alicia Stockman - Stay Between the Lines (feat. Mary Bragg).

Utah-based country meets Americana singer-songwriter Alicia Stockman has released her new single "Stay Between The Lines." Conceived during a long journey home on the highway from New Mexico, the song is a reflection on how we all can sometimes “dance between right and wrong and personal limits and boundaries to keep life interesting.” Featuring a twangy Americana melody, reverb-drenched guitar, and dynamic vocal harmonies, this is the perfect tune to get lost in during your summer road trip.

Alicia Stockman is a Utah-based folk-meets-Americana singer-songwriter whose music pulls back the veil to reveal everyday vulnerability. Her songs are written like intimate moments, drawing listeners into a relatable emotional journey.

At a young age, Alicia Stockman began her deep love for music, compelled by the vivid storytelling of powerhouse songwriters including Patty Griffin, Brandi Carlile and Jewel.  After performing in a loud rock n’ roll band playing bars with sticky floors and belting out Stevie Wonder tunes, Alicia began writing her own music more seriously.  Realizing her new songs didn’t have a place in a loud bar with a party atmosphere, she branched out and started playing more intimate venues, quickly finding her home in the folk and Americana scene. Her whisky-dipped soulful vocals and creative takes on day-to-day realities soon sparked the interest of “Nashville’s Americana Queen” Mary Bragg who began collaborating with Alicia on her new album.

Her upcoming debut 10-track full-length album is entitled These Four Walls and is a collection of  "songs to make you feel and feel seen." The album says, “I see you. I've been there. I understand.” Written over a three year period, These Four Walls is a luminous roots release  infused with gritty blues rock guitar licks and attention worthy melodies.

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M. Byrd - Orion.

After his two singles "Mountain" and "Morning Sun", M. Byrd now releases his first EP titled Orion - four songs full of vastness and warmth, carried by the feeling of passing trees outside a backseat car window and the melancholic homesickness that sometimes goes along with. Just one year ago, the first sign of life appeared with "Mountain" and the interim summary is impressive: M. Byrd has become one of the most exciting newcomers on the European music scene, counts 3.5 million streams on just two songs, was recommended in the French Rolling Stone as well as in American blogs. This summer he plays at tastemaker festivals like Immergut, in September at the Reeperbahn Festival and next year he will support indie dance king Roosevelt on his full European tour.

Wafting reverb tails, the casually stoic drums - Byrd's music sounds like Guadagigno's "Call me by your name," at times reminiscents of Tom Petty, Sufjan Stevens or Kurt Vile, while the guitars first sound like Sonic Youth and then fade away like The War on Drugs. In the title single, "Orion" M.Byrd remembers a long-time-nameless turtle that lived with his family for years - without anyone being bothered by the fact that it has no name. In the end, it is named Orion. "It's living in the past, you held me in your hands and never called me Orion". In the accompanying video, director Constantin Timm accompanies the artist and turtle on a journey through the desert.

M.Byrd’s timeless songs shine with a feeling of strength and self-understanding that can be rarely found at the beginning of a young musician’s career - they transport the listener to the American west coast, emitting a sense of melancholic future and euphoric youth, urging them to trust their intuition and find their inner-self. “I spent many years soaking up personal and musical experiences and I’ve been learning a lot in different studios and touring situations. The music I make is thus inspired by being on the road, moving on and allowing growth to happen. I realized that the experiences on my path might also inspire other people and I hope that this will continue in the future with the songs we release.”

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