It's a busy fortnight coming up for Would-be-goods. The third single from their new album 'Tears for Leda' comes out today Thursday (5 Feb), a retelling of a Greek myth as a garage band song. Then the album itself, 'Tears Before Bedtime' comes out on 13 Feb, having already received 4 stars in this month's Mojo.
Tears Before Bedtime is the sparkling new album by the Would-be-goods, Jessica Griffin’s band of pop adventurers. Since The Camera Loves Me, their cult classic 1988 debut for the legendary él Records, they have blazed a musical trail through indie guitar pop, with a garageband edge and forays into other territories - glam rock, tango, French chanson… The result is unique and timeless.
The songs on Tears Before Bedtime balance delicacy and power. Perfect pop melodies are delivered in Jessica’s gorgeous and idiosyncratic voice. Her lyrics are intelligent and wry, wistful and witty. Every song tells a story, taking us on a journey through space and time, from belle époque Paris to a 1960s London biker café, from a riverbank in ancient Greece to a 1970s teenage bedroom.
Listening to a Would-be-goods album is like wandering through a gallery of portraits. Innocence gives way to experience. Danger lurks amid the lights of the funfair in the 1950s carousel whirl of The Gallopers. The sinister Dr Love promises heaven but sends you down to hell, to the sound of a last dance in a smoky soul basement. A nymph meets a god in disguise in a garage-band take on a Greek myth (Tears for Leda). The Rose Tattoo is the tale of a doomed love in a sultry Southern state. Don't Come Crying To Me flames an ex-lover to the sound of Bollywood horns and shivery guitar. In Madame X a portrait painter vents his fury on a spoilt socialite beauty. The album closes with a sweetly jazzy lullaby (The Moon Doesn't Mind).
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| Artwork - Artemis Szekir-Rigas |
Facing things head on, ‘30th Day’ sees Austel take back control. Powerful and compelling, the new single is a brooding response to the relentlessness of being drawn to the wrong people. Sharing more, Austel explained: “30th Day is about feeling tired of being drawn to bad things / people who hurt you. You know it’s a dead end, or a groundhog day of getting your hopes raised that this time it’ll be different, and you’re exhausted by the amount of space it’s taking up in your life. While the song depicts quite a bleak situation, I think there’s power in naming what is causing you pain or holding you back. Once you see it for what it truly is, you can start to work out a way to overcome.”
Austel kicked off a brand new chapter with the release of ‘The Beach in December’ back in November. Cinemantic and soothing, the indie-folk offering was well received, Under The Radar premiered the track calling it ‘warm and intimate’ with ‘gorgeous stacked harmonies’ whilst Clash magazine described the track as ‘charming’ and commented on its ‘joyous innocence’. Today's new single ‘30th Day’ looks to be a significant follow up.
An accomplished singer, songwriter and producer, Austel’s extensive production work has seen her sound and talents continually expand over the years, honing her ability to create polished, indie-folk outputs that shine with an unmistakable texture and warmth. As she explores the folkier intimacies of the guitar in her newest project, she is developing a very personal sound that preserves a very spacious and open feeling.
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Alpha Pet are a Stockholm-based rock band playing sharp, fast and fun post-punk with roots in late-70s punk and new wave. Their sound has been compared to everything from Swedish morning-TV grumble to Talking Heads and The Fall and the band have made a name for themselves with their energetic, unpredictable and loud live shows. After a run of “Come to Brazil!”-evoking releases, Alpha Pet are set to release their self-titled debut EP Alpha Pet on March 27 via Rama Lama Records.
The new single “Don't Be Shy” is a fitting opening statement for Alpha Pet's next musical chapter, an accomplished smorgasbord of sounds jammed together to form a melodic whole, led by the divine jestering of frontman Rocky 3000 soaring, aching vocals. The track features backing vocals from members of label mates Melby, Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes and Cat Princess.
“I wanted to write a love song, and we did, but then I felt it needed something else. A twist,” says Alpha Pet vocalist Rocky 3000. “So it’s a love song, with a twist. But it’s not about cheating, like my fiancée thought.”
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Cardiff experimental folk group Spirited Followers introduce “Returning,” their debut single on BWGiBWGAN, marking the first recorded release in the label from a band already earning a reputation as one of Wales’ most immersive and powerful live acts. Blending ancient song traditions with exploratory textures and contemporary experimentation, the track reveals a gentler, meditative side to their expansive sound - reframing themes of death through warmth, acceptance and spiritual calm.
Cardiff-based experimental folk group Spirited Followers release “Returning,” their debut single on BWGiBWGAN, marking a significant moment for a band already gaining recognition as one of the most distinctive and powerful new live acts in Wales.
Known for immersive and emotionally charged performances, Spirited Followers have built their reputation through live shows where ancient musical lineages meet contemporary experimentation. Their sound feels both deeply rooted and quietly searching, carrying music passed down through generations while remaining unmistakably new.
Drawing from Appalachian folk, Indian classical music, Greek traditions, post-rock, and avant-garde practices, the band’s expansive sound is shaped by an unusual lineup of dulcimer, harmonium, bouzouki, cello, synths, and drums. “Returning” explores a gentler, more serene side of their work, inspired by Christian Appalachian hymns reflecting on death and reframing the subject through warmth, beauty, and acceptance.
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Tacoma, Washington songwriter Kye Alfred Hillig returns with “Our Remaining Pig,” the second single from his upcoming album The All-Night Costume Company, out March 4, 2026. Arriving yesterday February 4, the track pushes deeper into Hillig’s emotional terrain, pairing alternative-country and indie rock with a writer’s instinct for metaphor, restraint, and uncomfortable honesty. Where the album’s first single reintroduced Hillig’s voice, “Our Remaining Pig” begins to reveal the stakes.
Hillig has spent more than two decades rooted in the Puget Sound music scene, balancing songwriting with the realities of work, community, and long stretches away from the spotlight. Across nine solo albums, he’s developed a reputation for sharp melodies and lyrics that refuse to look away from difficult truths. His songs often sit at the intersection of personal reckoning and shared experience, finding meaning not in resolution, but in saying the hard thing plainly. Fans of The Jayhawks, Neil Young, Uncle Tupelo, Father John Misty, Kevin Morby, MJ Lenderman, and early Wilco will recognize the lineage, even as Hillig’s voice remains distinctly his own.
“Our Remaining Pig” takes its title and emotional core from an image that surfaced during Hillig’s time in art therapy. “I drew a man on his family farm wading across a river toward the final living pig, knowing he had to slaughter it,” Hillig explains. “You can tell he doesn’t want to do this, but sometimes the hard thing is exactly what must be done.” In the song, that image becomes a parallel for a relationship at a breaking point, a moment where avoidance only deepens the damage. “Sometimes couples just need to say the honest and painful thing,” he adds. “No one benefits from avoiding the suffering that comes with growth.”
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