Chris Pierce - Brooke Annibale - Cut The Wire - The Bankes Brothers

Photo - Miles Bitton

Chris Pierce - It Ain’t Ever Wrong to Be Free.

Chris Pierce shares his new single “It Ain’t Ever Wrong to Be Free,” the next preview of the LA singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album Songs for the Heavy Hearted, out August 21. A soulful highlight from the new record, the empowering song serves as a rallying cry for freedom – for ourselves, the people we love and those who cannot fight for themselves.

"I've never believed my job as a songwriter is to tell people what to think,” says Pierce. “My hope is to help people see one another more clearly. I've spent enough years traveling this country to know that every policy eventually arrives at someone's front door. That's where songs begin for me—not in politics, but in people. 'It Ain't Ever Wrong to Be Free' is about the courage to protect your peace, speak honestly, and stand beside people whose voices are too often ignored. To me, freedom means the most when it makes room for someone else."

“Sometimes, we’re going to get beaten and broken,” Pierce reflects. “But, even if you fire, arrest or threaten to imprison us, we’re going to pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and start again the next day. I’m still going to be out there moving forward with my voice, harmonicas and guitar in hand.”

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Photo - Sasha Pedro

Brooke Annibale - Birthday.

Indie singer/songwriter Brooke Annibale has released her new single “Birthday.” The track is the latest to release off her forthcoming new album Bolder Font, which is due out on September 17th. A touch of nostalgia delivered with a wink, “Birthday” is an ode to friendships lost to fading time. It captures the quiet irony of two people who were once close enough to buy each other birthday cakes, now too distant to even send a text. Atwood featured the single and raved “A gentle giant of a song, it carries years of memory on a brooding pulse, wrapping Annibale’s raw, unflinching songwriting in sweet warmth.”

“The whole premise of this song is built around an awkward feeling, sort of like the feeling of running into someone you lost touch with and forgetting how to connect with them, even though you once knew them well,” stated Annibale. “This is my tongue-in-cheek reaction to that feeling." That tension lives right in the opening verse, while in the chorus, she wraps that bittersweet ache in an irresistible melody, balancing tongue-in-cheek wit with genuine warmth.

“Birthday” follows the release of the electrifying “Make You Mine,” which burns with the thrill of chasing something you simply can’t walk away from: the pursuit of love, a creative passion, a road not taken. It captures that irresistible pull of going after what you want one more time, making the scenic route feel like the only route worth taking. Annibale also recently released “Daily Dose,” a spirited reflection on unfiltered enthusiasm; “My Favorite Part,” the heartbreakingly vulnerable opening track; as well as the title track “Bolder Font,” which wrestles with the album’s underlying theme of self-worth and the gap between who we are and the identities that have been placed on us. Forged through disappointment, the song ultimately offers relief, a reminder that we have the power to shed that pressure and simply be enough as we are.

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Cut The Wire - Find A Friend.

Boston’s wires are still fraying, but this time Cut The Wire are not just chasing sparks. They are looking for connection in the middle of the blur. After making their debut with “The Friction,” a fuzz-loaded first strike that already found its way onto major alternative and rock playlists, Cut The Wire return with “Find A Friend,” the second glimpse of their upcoming debut album, dropping November 20 via TCBYML.

Where “The Friction” introduced the band’s rusted, high-voltage indie rock, “Find A Friend” kicks the door open with jittery fuzz guitars, crashing dry drums, messy melodic solos and double-tracked slacker vocals that sound like they are trying to outrun the room as it tilts sideways. It is fast, nervous and catchy in all the right ways, pulling from 80s college rock, lo-fi analog grit and the distorted melodic chaos of bands who know that beauty often lives inside the rattle.

Lyrically, “Find A Friend” is all loose threads, worn shoes, smudged maps and lucky mistakes. It captures that strange in-between feeling of wanting someone to reach for, while everything around you shakes just enough to make standing still impossible. The chorus says it best: “It’s a wire blur, it’s a mess I prefer.” That is the whole Cut The Wire world in one line: frayed, restless, loud, human and somehow better because it refuses to be clean.

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The Bankes Brothers - Risk It All.

Victoria, BC rock outfit The Bankes Brothers share “Risk It All,” a high-energy, angsty, and jubilant new single that captures the tension between burnout and bold decision-making. Driven by punchy guitars, an old-school rock edge, and a sense of restless momentum, the track channels the frustration of chasing stability while trying to hold onto a creative dream.

At its core, “Risk It All” reflects the reality of building a life in music while navigating the uncertainty that comes with it. “Being in the music industry is everything we wanted starting out,” Nelson Bankes shares. “As we’ve gotten more into it, there’s often a lot more ‘hurry up and wait.’ We’ve all had to work jobs to support ourselves while we chase this thing which can burn you out pretty quick. This song is about that shared frustration, and the reminder that life is what you make of it.”

The song began almost accidentally in the most unassuming way. “This one mostly happened in the shower,” Nelson explains. “I just started humming it and realized that it was a song that hadn’t been written yet.” From that simple melodic idea, the track quickly evolved into one of their most direct and explosive recordings to date.

With rhythm guitar, bass, and drums locked in early, the song still felt like it needed something to fully ignite it. That missing piece arrived unexpectedly in the form of guitarist Carson, who was recovering from a heavy flu during the session. “He was buried in his hoodie on the couch in the corner,” Nelson recalls. “Within two or three takes, he had this crazy lead part that tied the whole song together.”

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Asara - Twilark - Murkage Dave & Ryan Yard Act - Kate Waters - The Bankes Brothers

Asara - With Love.

Following "Cute" and "Thank You, Thank You," Asara unveils a third track from her debut album "028 Crises" today June 11th: the minimalist "With Love." Set against a minimalist drum machine and a clean piano line, Asara's delicate vocals captivate. Asara is the solo project of Paris-based French-Moroccan artist Sarah Pitet, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, and video director whose debut album 028 Crises will be released on July 3rd via French label Géographie. After spending four years as a member of Dog Park, moving fluidly between guitar, bass, keyboards, and vocals, she now steps into a more intimate and personal space with her first solo work.

Having played music since childhood, Asara grew up through various band projects before joining Dog Park, alongside Erica Ashleson, Isabella Green Catani, and Jean Duffour. Together, they released the album Festina Lente in 2024 on the same label, Géographie. That collective experience now feeds a more introspective form of songwriting and a deeply personal approach to creation.

Written throughout 2025, 028 Crises unfolds like a near-documentary sonic diary, tracing the emotional landscape of her twenty-eighth year. Voice takes center stage throughout the record, balancing raw vulnerability with sharper rhythmic momentum. Her debut single Cute draws from the textures and pulse of hip-hop drum machines, while Thank You, Thank You stays rooted in a melodic, stripped-back bedroom pop aesthetic. On With Love, Asara blends upright piano with French touch-inspired electronic elements, while the rest of the album leans toward a darker, denser, and more organic form of rock. From her apartment studio in the Paris suburbs, she writes, produces, and shapes the entire visual and sonic identity of the project. 

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Photo - Layde Jane Vickers

Twilark - The Deeper I Fall.

Released today we have "The Deeper I Fall," from Twilark's forthcoming album Never Learned the Tide, arriving September 11. Framed as a love song to the night, "The Deeper I Fall" drifts along like a gentle lullaby waltz for fellow late-night wanderers—those quiet hours when inspiration, reflection, and possibility seem to feel a little closer at hand. For longtime listeners, the track also serves as a beautiful bridge between Twilark's earlier work and the richer Americana textures that define Never Learned the Tide. It feels both familiar and forward-looking, offering a glimpse of where the project is headed while retaining the dreamy intimacy that first drew so many of us in.

Quote from Canon Pence (Twilark): The sentiments of this song should resonate with night owls everywhere. There can be a rich creative beauty in the quiet hours of the night, in spite of - or perhaps because of - the knowledge that you're borrowing happiness from tomorrow.

Graceful, evocative, and approachable, Never Learned The Tide is the second full-length from Raleigh, North Carolina’s Twilark, the fledgling project of songwriter Canon Pence, whose articulate and wry but tender approach to Americana-inflected indie folk places him securely in a long list of similar artists. But this music is too personal, too full of Pence’s personality, to be anything but his own work, totally unique in its vivid character. Past work has been called “enchanting” by The Big Takeover and “an absolute delight” by Tonic Grain. And Never Learned The Tide is another, even more surefooted step forward.

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Murkage Dave & Ryan Yard Act - Gabriel.

Thirty years after Roy Davis Jr. and Peven Everett, two titans of Chicago house music, created one of dance music's most beloved and enduring records, Murkage Dave and Yard Act's Ryan Needham have joined forces to reimagine 'Gabriel'.

Born from countless hours spent sharing music on tour buses, in dressing rooms and after-show hangouts while Murkage Dave toured Europe with Yard Act, the new version transforms the original's euphoric house pulse into something more intimate and reflective. Led by Dave's unmistakable vocal and Needham's guitar-driven production, it is less a straightforward cover than a conversation with a song that is woven into the fabric of both artists' lives.

The single arrives following the release of Dave's acclaimed third album Brut Thoughts in March (6Music playlist, Radio X playlist, #11 Independent Album Breakers Chart, #14 Album Downloads Chart, #38 Independent Albums Chart, #2 Apple Music All Genres) and will feature on a deluxe edition of the album set for release on October 30th alongside a brand new original track, '10 Pints For The Culture'.

Originally released on Chicago's Large Records in 1996, 'Gabriel' became a defining record for UK dancefloors after the aptly named ‘Live Garage Mix’ was embraced by the emerging garage scene and later reissued by XL Recordings. Over the past three decades its influence has stretched far beyond any one genre, finding its way into jungle, speed garage, dubstep and grime, while remaining one of the most cherished songs in British sound system culture.

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Photo - Samantha Wiley

Kate Waters - Words.

Kate Waters has announced her sophomore album ‘Some Comfort,’ self-produced and recorded at Red Tree Recording Studio in Magnolia, Texas, is to be released August 21 independently. 
 
Opening of her soulful Americana collection, “Words” examines the complicated dissonance of self-expression—a desperate ache to share one’s self, and the feeling that it’s impossible. Her honeyed vocals spill through wailing guitars, urgency sizzling from a  frenetic mandolin. It’s an angsty entrance into the album, tight and gripping like humidity before a storm, tension before release. 
 
Waters wrote her first album ‘Near’ in response to her mother’s death. Released in 2024, it’s as much a loving daughter’s ode as it is a practice in processing grief, a touching display of Waters’ bold willingness to be vulnerable. Whereas ‘Near’ dealt with the agony of endings, Waters’ follow-up and first studio release ‘Some Comfort’ celebrates the inspiration they can provide. “Just before my mother died, she published her very first book of poetry,” Water says. “Seeing it in her hands, the culmination of her life’s dream, propelled me to finally pursue my own.”

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The Bankes Brothers - Aaliyah.

Victoria, BC indie rock outfit The Bankes Brothers share “Aaliyah,” a warm and melodic new single that transforms personal devotion into something universally resonant. Built around fingerpicked acoustic guitars, soaring melodies, and heartfelt lyricism, the track captures the feeling of holding onto hope while navigating distance, uncertainty, and the passage of time. Equal parts intimate and uplifting, “Aaliyah” finds the band leaning into one of their most emotionally sincere recordings to date.

The song began long before its title arrived. Written initially around a series of chords and evolving song sections, “Aaliyah” existed without a clear centrepiece for quite some time. A temporary lyric, “farewell Maria,” occupied the space where the hook would eventually land, but never felt quite right. “It wasn’t until my girlfriend was saying how she wished she had been named Aaliyah because it’s such a beautiful name that it clicked and it all came together,” Nelson Bankes explains. “In the end, the song is dedicated to her.”

At its core, “Aaliyah” reflects the optimism that has long guided The Bankes Brothers’ songwriting. While many of their songs grapple with uncertainty, growth, and change, they often arrive at a place of resilience rather than defeat. “Writing music has always been a very therapeutic thing for me,” Nelson shares. “I hope that people listen to most of the songs and get the sense that they're optimistic. There's enough bad emotions in the world. We try not to put more out there.”

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Rosa Anschutz - The Bankes Brothers - Drea Lake - Dynamyte - Ezra Bell

Photo - Rosa Anschutz

Rosa Anschutz - Sabbatical (Album).

Berlin-born artist Rosa Anschütz, known for her spellbinding vocal work in the electronic underground, has released her new album Sabbatical via Wesley Eisold's (Cold Cave, American Nightmare) Heartworm Press, her first international release outside of Germany.  Heartworm has previously released books by legendary artists Genesis P'Orridge, Mark Lanegan, Alan Vega and more, and Rosa Anschütz's ambitious 14-track statement compliments the label's catalogue with her haunting minimalism and visionary depth.

Swapping pulsing club beats for a raw, cinematic intimacy, Anschütz channels the spectral beauty of Moon Pix-era Cat Power, the mystique of Nico, and the experimental clarity of Björk and Dead Can Dance. The stripped-back arrangement foregrounds Anschütz’s arresting voice, carrying lyrics that feel both prophetic and personal. 

With Sabbatical, Rosa Anschütz emerges as one of the most compelling avant-garde voices of her generation... an artist unafraid to dismantle genre, geography, or expectation. The album is a bold reinvention and a testament to the patience and precision of a singular creative vision.

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The Bankes Brothers - Where Do We Go From Here? (EP).

The Bankes Brothers return with their most dynamic release to date, the new EP, Where Do We Go From Here? (produced by Gus Van Go), featuring the high-energy focus track “Waited All Night.” Known for their infectious live shows and timeless rock ‘n’ roll spirit, the band continues to carve out their place as one of Canada’s most exciting emerging acts.

The EP also features recent singles “Bedroom Wall,” “Get To Know,” and the title track “Where Do We Go From Here?” – each showcasing a different side of the band’s songwriting. “He was great at opening us up to the mindset of ‘serve the song,’ and the production style and choices were a direct result of that,” Nelson Bankes (lead vocals, guitars) says of working with acclaimed producer Gus Van Go (The Beaches, Arkells, Hollerado).

Following their debut EP In Waves (produced by Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat/The Zolas), the band is now entering a new era – bigger, bolder, and brighter than ever. With Where Do We Go From Here?, The Bankes Brothers deliver a collection of indie-rock bangers made for the stage, proving themselves not just as a band to watch, but a band built to last.

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Photo -  Jen Squires

Drea Lake - Dream Spinner.

As anticipation builds ahead of the release of her full-length debut album A Call From Somewhere Else on Nov. 7, Canadian singer/songwriter Drea Lake is offering another preview with "Dream Spinner," a song that pays tribute to people in our lives whose unwavering support often goes unacknowledged.

Co-written with James Maltese and built upon an arrangement by Timothy Abraham that incorporates intertwined trumpet and synthesizers lines, the music of "Dream Spinner" lives up to its title and follows the pattern set by previous singles "4U" and "Sturgeon Moon" in demonstrating that Drea Lake is not a typical folk singer.

Drea says, "'Dream Spinner' is about uncovering those loved ones that often do so much for others but may have a hard time taking center stage. The wonderful Dominic Leveille played the first ever trumpet line that I composed and he brought such a great touch to the song. And Timothy Abraham did something so creative and magical in the way he arranged this song. I love the dreamy quality."

Drea co-produced A Call From Somewhere Else with renowned Quebecois acoustic guitarist Antoine Dufour, who also added his instrumental talents to a majority of the songs, along with a host of other contributors drawn from the worlds of Canadian roots, jazz and classical music. Blending genres has always been a major focus of Drea’s compositional style, and the album sessions were carried out in the spirit of collaboration.

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Dynamyte - Probably.

Rising artist Dynamyte released her highly anticipated second single, “Probably,” last Friday across all digital platforms, accompanied by a dynamic visual performance video. The visual showcases Dynamyte behind the drums in a live studio setting, surrounded by her band, delivering vocals straight to the camera with undeniable confidence and energy.

This new track follows the success of her previous single “Checkmate”, which marked the beginning of a bold new musical era for Dynamyte. With “Probably,” she continues to expand her repertoire, combining her signature blend of classic R&B, sultry neo-soul, and sharp hooks with rhythmic intensity and an upbeat groove that highlights her rare ability to sing while drumming.

“This was one of the last songs written on this album, a few months before meeting my girlfriend. We realized I didn’t have a true love-themed song in my catalog yet, so this track filled that gap. During the session, one of my co-writers asked, ‘What would you do if the love of your life walked in right now?’ Without thinking, I said, ‘I’d probably run.’ That one line became the backbone of the whole song,” says Dynamyte. “The song is about the fear of vulnerability and the instinct to run from someone who might actually be ‘the one.’ ‘You’re probably the one, so I’m probably gonna run’ is both funny and heartbreaking. It captures that contradiction perfectly.”

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Photo - JCPenney

Ezra Bell - Cannonball Wingman.

Ezra Bell, one of the 21st century’s most organically successful folk/Americana bands, has released their new single “cannonball wingman,” the latest offering from their forthcoming studio album, Chin Chin. Ezra Bell’s ninth studio album serves as a tribute to the band’s lead singer and lyricist Ben Wuamett, who unexpectedly passed away in October 2024. 

“Cannonball Wingman” captures a day in the life of someone spinning stories that may or may not be true. The gangster tale reflects Ben’s beginnings in the hip-hop world with that genre’s internal rhymes and syncopations finding their way, subversively or not, into his lyrics, while channeling Ezra Bell’s signature mix of raucous Americana, folk, and indie grit.

Set for release October 24th via ONErpm, Chin Chin was fully written and recorded before Wuamett’s unexpected passing last fall. The 11-song collection serves as both a way of honoring Ben’s life and musical legacy while also paving a way forward for Ezra Bell, an eight-piece band that has created its own sound featuring an unusual mix of street-hard lyrics with folk-pop and Americana sounds sprinkled with elements of rock, blues, jazz, and R&B.

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