The October Effect - Michael Lane - Romanie - Hauntees - Awful Din

The October Effect - The Missing Clue.

Formed in 2023 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, UK, The October Effect is the creation of both songwriter and guitarist Laurence (aka Loz) Collins, and vocalist Cath Back.  Laurence's songs blend elements of jazz and pop with a reflective, atmospheric edge - a very real 'October effect'. 

Whilst Cath Back Exceptional Vocals adds depth and nuance to the band’s understated, emotionally-driven sound. The band is completed by its latest member, Mike Gutsell (bass and backing vocals), who has been collaborating musically with Laurence since they were teenagers.

The Missing Clue – A song about that life changing moment when everything falls into place and you realise the missing piece has been added to your personal jigsaw. It might be love, the birth of a child or something else, but whatever it is you know it's going to redefine your life - forever. The October Effect’s distinctive approach — thoughtful songwriting, emotionally resonant lyrics with a subtle jazz-influenced feel.

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Michael Lane - Live Free (Album).

“Live Free” is about embracing life as it comes – with all its highs and lows. The songs revolve around love, freedom, and self-acceptance, born from honest moments and genuine self-reflection. The album serves as a reminder that freedom doesn’t mean avoiding responsibility or emotions, but staying true to yourself in every situation. It tells a story of growth, forgiveness, and finding peace with one’s own imperfections.

If there’s a modern folk/pop artist who truly knows the difficult sides of life, it’s Michael Lane. In his twenties, he was deployed as a U.S. soldier to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he witnessed many traumatic events. His previous albums were like a musical diary of these experiences – but on “Live Free,” you can clearly feel that lightness and joy have returned. The album sends a hopeful message: even crises and periods of self-reflection can bring us closer to the things that really matter.

The German-American singer became known through two Top-50 hits in the German charts, four released albums, international tours, and his single “Liberty,” which was the official song of the Four Hills Tournament 2015/2016. Several of his songs have made it onto Spotify and Apple Music editorial playlists and are featured by tastemakers such as alexrainbird Music, Indie Folk Central, Starbucks Playlists, and Double J Music. In addition to his work as a musician, Michael Lane also writes production music and produces in his secluded “Studio Waldblick.”

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Photo - Marcus Cobblyn

Romanie - Anything or Anyone.

Multi-award winning singer-songwriter Romanie returns with her brilliant new single ‘Anything or Anyone’, ahead of her forthcoming album ‘It’s Not That Funny’ which is set to follow on the 20th of February. A homage to community, ‘Anything or Anyone’ arrives as a reminder that you're never alone. Unfolding over gently plucked guitars, ‘Anything or Anyone’ is a reflection on loneliness and pushing back against the temptation to isolate yourself further. 

Sharing more, Romanie explained: “This song is a really big reminder to myself that I’m not alone, I wrote it in the midst of a really dark and lonely time - thinking I was completely alone by shutting myself out. Living on the other side of the world, choosing a career that is not straight forward - it can sometimes feel like you’re screaming into the void. 

I think the song, even though it stemmed from a sad time, is a reminder and dedication to anyone who’s ever felt lonely (all of us) and a reminder that we never are alone. Community is everything.” ‘Anything or Anyone’ is the fourth offering to be taken from Romanie's upcoming sophomore album. 

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Hauntees - All Over Again.

Helsinki-based goth garage band Hauntees has released the first single, All Over Again, from their upcoming debut album. The hypnotic, dark-toned track draws its striking elements from post-punk as well as goth and garage rock. Hauntees is a new band, but its members have previously played in groups such as Patsy Walkers, Borderline, Charm Bags, Goo-Hags and Lariots, so the roots of the Helsinki garage scene are well covered.

“We want to reach toward other worlds with our music, beyond everyday reality,” the band says. “When we write songs, we describe them to each other through places, films, and moods.” Based on feedback, Hauntees’ visual and atmospheric approach to music seems to resonate with listeners.

“It’s interesting that listeners experience our music this way too. We’ve received comments at shows that we sound like the jukebox in the Twin Peaks bar, a foggy forest path, or music that should be played on a road trip across the desert,” the band says. The band’s debut album Shadows Forming will be released on February 28 on vinyl and digital platforms.

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Awful Din - ANTI BODY (Album).

"Founding members Aaron Groom (vocals/guitar) and Kat Doniger (guitar) reference 90s emo and punk as what brought them together in a band (Saves the Day and Texas Is The Reason, specifically), and on their sophomore album ANTI BODY, the group (now joined by new members Jay Rodriguez and Don Lavis on bass and drums) take those influences and make a fresh, catchy-sounding emo-pop-punk album out of them. 

Somewhere between post-Lemonheads earnest jangle-power pop, John K. Samson storytelling, Taking Meds-style indie rock/punk, and big PUP choruses, the opening stretch of ANTI BODY is a whirlwind between the three golden pop rock songs 'GFTO My Basement,' 'Goodbye Delaware,' and 'I Will Break You.' 

"If you’ve forgotten that Awful Din are an emo band, the brake-tapping, string-laden hospital ballad 'Foot Punk' will remind you, although the quartet throw themselves into that one so fully that it just adds another layer to ANTI BODY rather than arresting any momentum (and if that one doesn’t slow Awful Din down, the sparse, slow-building 'Chaparral' certainly won’t either). 

The bass-led belter '15 Minutes of Shame' and a perfect jangly pop song called “Big’s In Paris Now” (of course) are B-side highlights, as is closing track 'We Have We Are We Will,' in which Awful Din do the 'cathartic big finish' thing as well as I’d expect them to do. It’s been a minute since I’ve heard an emo (or “emo-adjacent”, even) album that hits these notes as well as Awful Din do on ANTI BODY; it’s a welcome reminder of the power of this kind of thing." -Rosy Overdrive

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Jeanines - Haunted Like Human - Michael Lane

Jeanines - How Long Can It Last (Album). 

This is a gorgeous album that we had the pleasure of receiving a couple of months back. For Beehive Candy this ticks so many positive boxes, therefore without any further words lets skip to the background and we hope you get to love at least some of these songs: Skep Wax Records are delighted to be teaming up with Slumberland Records (US) to release a new album from New York indiepop heroines (and hero) Jeanines, How Long Can It Last. 

Over the course of nearly a decade making music, Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith have charted a distinctive course through the history of pop, evoking influences as varied as the 60s folk of early Fairport Convention and Vashti Bunyan, the sunshine pop of Margo Guryan and Laura Nyro, and indiepop touchstones like Dear Nora, Marine Girls and Dolly Mixture.

The new album finds Jeanines grappling with themes of personal upheaval and self-excavation, adding weight to their finest set of songs yet. With Alicia’s lyrics incisively interrogating connections, ruptures, and time and its reverberations, songs like "Coaxed a Storm," "What's Done Is Done," and "On and On" combine rich melody with co-composer Jed’s crisp arrangements (along with contributions from longtime live show bassist Maggie Gaster) to stellar effect.

Where How Long Can It Last really shines is, as always, in the songs.  While the themes are sometimes heavy, the melodies and harmonies are simply heavenly, elevating these economical songs to give each the feeling of a lost classic.  From the first notes of opener "To Fail" to jaunty closer "Wrong Direction," this album announces itself as the work of a band in full command of their art (and craft).

Jeanines · How Long Can It Last

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Haunted Like Human - Married in Savannah.

Mythology evokes images of gods, titans, demons, and beasts of every kind. Yet, it’s the spark of humanity that keeps us telling and retelling myths. It’s these stories of seduction, inheritance, and hubris that Nashville-based folk duo Haunted Like Human rekindle in the 14 songs on their third album American Mythology, out October 17th. 

Since the release of 2021’s Tall Tales & Fables, Dale Chapman and Cody Clark have been refining their sound rather than departing from it.The result is a shapely set of songs that borrow from universal lore in order to reveal intimate truths. “I feel like it’s my background in fiction that really started us down the path of centering storytelling. It’s what I know and instinctually reach for, and we’ve found a way to make that a cornerstone of what we do,” says Chapman. 

Take lead single “Married in Savannah,” out today June 27th. It’s a bittersweet folk-pop number about watching someone close to you change. The themes are universal whether describing a lover, a friend, or anyone else. “What a shame to see a wild thing be tamed,” Chapman sings, their voice akin to Florence Welch’s mezzo-soprano. Grounded in the context of Southern religion, the song offers rich details about the chapel’s blue stained glass and the groom “shining like his family name.”

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Photo - Melissa Lane

Michael Lane - Lovely.

Lovely" is a song born from a rain-soaked silence — a tribute to the unseen, the abandoned, and the tender grace of those who keep believing in love, even when the world forgets their name.

At the heart of this piece is Lovely, a soul with a scarred past and gentle eyes, rescued not only from the storm but from the long ache of being unwanted. Diggersworld, a haven nestled in the quiet countryside, becomes more than a refuge — it becomes a poem of belonging. A place where weary paws find soft earth, and where trust, like spring, slowly blooms again.

This song is a lullaby for the broken, a homecoming hymn for all creatures who have waited too long. It's a reminder that every being — no matter how small, how weathered — deserves to be held, to be cherished, and to finally sleep without fear. "Lovely" is not just a song. It is a soft promise. A doorway. A wag of the tail in the dusk. A heartbeat that whispers: You’re safe now. You’re home.

Successes such as two top 50 songs in the German charts, four albums, international tours and the single "Liberty" as the official song of the Four Hills Tournament 2015/2016 made the German-American famous. Several songs have already found their way onto Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL editorial playlists, and are featured by well-known tastemakers such as Alex Rainbird Music, Starbucks Playlists and Double J Music. In addition to his work as a musician, Michael Lane is currently also active as a songwriter for Production Music and as a music producer in his remote "Studio Waldblick“.

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Climbing Trees - Michael Lane - Bethany Ferrie - Hunter Sheridan

Climbing Trees - Troubling Times.

With two critically-acclaimed albums, one EP and five singles under their collective belts, Welsh Music Prize-nominated Cymrucana pioneers Climbing Trees return this spring after three years of hibernation with brand new single Troubling Times.  Released via Staylittle Music and distributed by The Orchard and PYST.

Recorded in isolation at Mwnci Studios in Hebron, Carmarthenshire – the setting for the band’s critically-acclaimed albums Hebron and Borders – Troubling Times marks the Trees’ first studio material since 2018’s Borders: Acoustic B Sides EP, released at the end of an eventful few years which included shows in the UK, Europe and USA alongside numerous television, radio and festival appearances, a live session at London’s iconic Maida Vale Studios and a performance with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

As the band’s frontman Matthew Frederick remarks; ‘We decided to take a year off in 2018 to spend a little time on our various solo and side projects.  Before we knew it, two years had passed, then three, and a whole lot has happened in the world in that time.  We didn’t want to come back until we had something to say, and, more importantly, a good song to say it with, and Troubling Times certainly feels timely in that sense.  We’ve really enjoyed making music as Climbing Trees again, and we can’t wait to get back out on stage in front of the Trees fans, whenever that may be…’

Climbing Trees · Troubling Times

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Michael Lane - Good Times.

Michael Lane releases the happy upbeat indie folk single "Good Times" on April 30th. Although 'Good Times’ is a very upbeat and happy song, it still has a more serious and deeper meaning. Without getting too much into it, in the song I’m basically saying that, just because you surround yourself with a new house or nice car, doesn’t mean it will give you more happiness in the long run.“ Michael Lane explains. If there is a modern folk-pop artist who has seen the harsh realities in life, it is Michael Lane himself. 

As a US soldier in his twenties, sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, Michael was forced to live at cruelty. And if his previous albums were like a kind of musical diary in which these experiences were reflected, Michael Lane's regained ease and joy can clearly be seen in Good Times“. 

The song is a message of hope and positive certainty that a time of crisis will lead people back to the important things. Successes such as two top 50 songs in the German charts, four albums, international tours and the single "Liberty" as the official song of the 2015/2016 Four Hills Tournament, Europe’s biggest international ski jump event, have made the German-American known to the public. In addition to his work as a musician, Michael Lane is currently also active as a songwriter for production music and as a music producer in his remote "Studio Waldblick“.

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Bethany Ferrie - Bones.

Bethany Ferrie, a 23-year-old singer/songwriter from Glasgow who has recently been shortlisted for the BBC Radio Scotland Singer/Songwriter Award and signed her first publishing contract in 2020, releases her new single, Bones, on the 30th of April 2021.

The track, written in the midst of lockdowns and an upturned world, is about reminiscing, letting go and opening up.

Bethany takes a wide range of influences when it comes to crafting her music: from the likes of Fleetwood Mac to Lewis Capaldi, Kings of Leon to Taylor Swift.

Bethany Ferrie · BETHANY FERRIE - Bones

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Hunter Sheridan - To You, My Friend.

Hunter Sheridan is a Canadian musician whose music delivers soulful songwriting with warm melodies that weave a euphoric atmosphere. Hunter’s writing highlights honest lyrics and dynamic arrangements connecting with listeners across music genres.

Hunter released his debut album, Life is a Dream, in May 2020 and has reached over 100k streams cross-platform. He is now following up with a new single, “To You, My Friend,” which highlights the beauty in the briefness of life, and how important it is to show gratitude, support and appreciation to the ones you love while pursuing your own passions.

Hunter Sheridan Music · HunterSheridan - To You, My Friend

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