Minnegasco presents their latest single, “Tar Mazzan”. Featuring the unmistakable vocals of The Shins’ frontman James Mercer, the track is now available on streaming platforms worldwide. A month back, Minnegasco pulled off a quiet coup: securing James Mercer to lend his iconic voice to “Livin’ in France.” As the mastermind behind The Shins, Mercer is indie-pop royalty, here transforming their atmospheric pop into timeless art-rock.
Minnegasco’s “Tar Mazzan” plays out like a riddle. On first spin, it feels like a catchy tune. But beneath all that bounce lies an angry anti-war protest track taking dead aim at the status quo. Imagine Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”, but stripped of the heavy guitar stacks and handed to a maniac with an accordion. The central chorus—“hat and a cane, hook and a chain, mask and a flame”—sounds like a playground chant until you realize what it’s really about: Wall Street bankers, war profiteers, and the daily grind turning everyday people into modern-day slaves.
It’s rare to find a song that’s clever and infectious without getting stuck up its own tail. Part backroom circus, part full-blown rally, “Tar Mazzan” doesn’t just call out the rich and powerful—it sets their whole circus on fire and hands you a beer as it burns.
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Austin's Chasen Wayne returns with his new single "En Laredo," the latest preview of his upcoming fourth studio album, The Diamond Saloon, due out August 28. Built around strong storytelling and a classic country foundation, "En Laredo" reflects the blend of traditional honky tonk, outlaw country, and subtle psychedelic influences that have become Wayne's signature. It's a song that introduces listeners to the themes running throughout the album: hard choices, second chances, and the people and places that shape who we become. The track sets the tone for an album that respects country music's roots while taking its own path.
Wayne's songwriting is grounded in experience. Raised on a ranch before spending much of his childhood in a trailer park, he left his small Texas hometown as a teenager and moved to Austin, where he worked as an underage nightclub bouncer, became involved in drug trafficking, and later worked digging trenches for a plumbing company.
Finding sobriety changed the direction of his life and led him to music. Today, those experiences inform songs about addiction, recovery, fatherhood, love, and redemption. Backed by his band, The Honky Tonk Machine, Wayne has earned a reputation in Austin's independent country scene for honest songwriting and energetic live shows. On The Diamond Saloon, he continues to bring together classic country, psychedelic rock, surf guitar, and jazz influences to create a sound that feels familiar while still pushing beyond the expected.
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Scottish indie-folk outfit Arbor Green return with ‘Cue The Timeslip’, the second single from the forthcoming Timeslip EP — a richly textured, emotionally resonant track that captures the feeling of watching life race past while searching for the courage to move at your own pace. Built around driving guitars, warm harmonies and an expansive full-band arrangement, ‘Cue The Timeslip’ expands Arbor Green's signature blend of folk, indie rock and alt-country into its most immediate and uplifting form yet. The song balances restless energy with quiet reassurance, turning themes of uncertainty and self-doubt into an understated message of hope.
‘Cue The Timeslip’ reflects on the modern habit of measuring our lives against everyone else's. "It's mostly about doom-scrolling and mobile phone addiction," explains songwriter and frontman Ali Begg. "Getting caught in the trap of lusting after things that you don't have, comparing yourself to other people's lives and worrying that you're falling behind.”
Rather than dwelling in anxiety, the song ultimately offers comfort. "The closing sentiment is meant to be, 'It's chill — we all feel like this, and there's actually plenty of time to do the stuff you want to do,'" he says. ‘Cue The Timeslip’ also marks an important evolution for Arbor Green. Where the 2022 debut album grew from years of home recordings and solitary experimentation, the new material was written and recorded with a dedicated band in mind, resulting in a more confident and collaborative sound.
"I feel like it sounds much more like a band," says Arbor Green. "Everyone had authorship over the arrangements. Each track on the EP pushes a little further at the edges of what Arbor Green can sound like.”
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New York-based Swedish-Thai singer, composer, and producer Sirintip has just announced her new album, White Lilies, will be arriving October 30. The second single, “Motherland,” is out this week. At the heart of White Lilies, “Motherland” uses the fjords of Sweden’s west coast as a metaphor for the moments of goodbye. The song imagines loved ones sailing away, while an imagined “silverline”—a phone line that could reach loved ones in heaven—offers a way to stay connected. Ben Wendel’s beautiful tenor saxophone solo carries the song to an emotional climax, giving voice to the longing and tenderness at the center of the record.
Sirintip’s music lives at the intersection of avant-pop, jazz, electronic music, and Thai and European musical traditions—ethereal one moment, visceral the next. A highly sought-after collaborator who has appeared on more than 50 recordings, her work has also expanded into scientific research, data sonification, orchestral composition, and immersive performance. But White Lilies marks a striking turn inward. Following the unexpected death of her father, Sirintip stepped away from the instinct to intellectualize and analyze her experience and instead allowed herself to sit with feelings that couldn’t be researched or explained. The result is her most vulnerable and emotionally direct work yet: six intuitive songs about loss, memory, home, and connection.
Regarding Motherland Sirintip says “I’ve lost quite a few people in my life, and I started imagining them sailing away from a wooden dock and up a fjord on the Swedish west coast. In the song, I came up with an imaginary word ‘silverline’—an invisible phone line I can call up to where they are, so I can always stay connected to them even though they’re far away. Whenever I’m alone in nature, I feel them closer to me, whispering through the pines."
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We have to say Beehive Candy really do love Railcard. So here is the short background for the latest single ahead of the album. Skep Wax are pleased to share the third single Flannelette by indiepop supergroup Railcard, from their debut album "Two Steps At A Time", featuring ex-members of Dolly Mixture and Death In Vegas and current members of Heavenly.
As with the first EPs, Railcard enlisted the sonic services of Medway psych expert Allan Crockford (of The Prisoners, JTQ and many more) who has delivered mixes that pump with vintage valve energy and reverby depth.
Two Steps At A Time is released on Skep Wax and Slumberland September 18th. An exclusive Dinked edition of 300 copies including a 7 inch single with 2 additional tracks will be available at participating UK record stores.
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| Photo - Sheva Kafai. |
Chinese American Bear, the Seattle-based duo of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten today share new single 'Dance Dance Dance (跳舞跳舞跳舞)', a previously unheard cut from their new album 'Dim Sum & Then Some', released in May of this year via Moshi Moshi Records.
"'Dance Dance Dance (跳舞跳舞跳舞)' is a groovy, riff-laden, slightly psychedelic, disco bop that we wrote in early 2025," said Anne of the track. "It's a simple song, about getting down to the groove! Bryce had written the bass line & drums first, and we remember listening back and just wanting to bop and move our bodies. So as the song developed, we decided that it should be about just that. The lyrics are about moving, grooving, and listening to the beat. "Waiting for the wu liu qi (5 6 7). Take me to the san er yi (3 2 1), I don't wanna lose it. I just wanna move it. Hey!"."
Following the success of their 2024 full-length 'Wah!!!' - Chinese American Bear's new album 'Dim Sum & Then Some' - released in May of this year via Moshi Moshi Records - showcases a more musically dense and exploratory vision, marking a sonic evolution for the duo. Delving further into experimental territory while embracing more traditional pop elements than ever before, the album forms a positive and lighthearted collage of the duo’s life together - exploring food, small joys, Chinese-American upbringing, love, and fantasy.
Blending warbling guitars with hints of psychedelia, pop, disco and strings - alongside synth-driven electronics and droney, hypnotic textures - 'Dim Sum & Then Some' reflects the Chinese American Bear ethos: open, curious and lighthearted.
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