The Bernedette Maries - Ellie Heath - Levi Taschuk - The Veils - JunkHeap - Hunter Morris / Mountain of Youth

The Bernedette Maries - ESO.

The Bernadette Maries, poised on the edge between dream and reality, drift into disembodied spaces to capture fleeting images. Released today “ESO,” a nested track, unfolds in several sequences, like successive snapshots of a dream. From a nugaze texture, it lifts off into an intoxicating liquid drum’n’bass. Like Julie or TAGABOW, the band is part of a generation of musicians creating a post-digital rock, digesting their idols to better uncover the present.

The Bernadette Maries are constantly on the edge between dream and reality, escaping into disembodied spaces to capture distorted images and give them meaning. The music video for “ESO,” the second single from their debut album Soft, is proof of this, multiplying scenes drenched in artificial light, from the neon glow of a warehouse to flashlights aimed into the night. Following the duality of the track, which takes off from a nugaze texture filled with heavy guitars into a liquid drum’n’bass, the visuals move from a direct, front-facing view of the band and gradually dissolve into a more abstract, vaporous substance, attempting to convey its nocturnal poetry.

The Bernadette Maries is a band from Brussels, established in 2024, with members Daria, Guy & Romain. Their sound merges post-punk energy, shoegaze’s dreamy textures, and indie rock hooks. TBM’s music is about love and existentialism, melancholy & meaning of our lives in a world that is slowly falling apart. It is inspired not only by music, but society, books, and movies as well. 

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Ellie Heath - Sick of Myself.

Building on the momentum of recent releases Canadian singer-songwriter Ellie Heath shares “Sick of Myself,” a bold and emotionally charged new single from her upcoming album Pushing Forty, set for release on May 29th, 2026. Blending introspective songwriting with an explosive, danceable chorus, “Sick of Myself” captures a deeply personal turning point. The track explores the shift from independence toward partnership, reflecting on the moment when life stops being solely self-focused and begins to open outward toward connection, care and shared purpose.

“This song was inspired by a moment of transition in my life. After many years of being single and living alone, I found myself moving into a stable relationship and building a shared life with my partner,” Ellie explains. “It made me reflect on how much of my early adulthood was centered on independence and self-reliance. As I get older, I’m feeling a strong pull toward community, partnership, and caring for others. ‘Sick of Myself’ captures that shift; from being the main character in my own story to wanting to invest my energy in love, connection, and building something meaningful with someone else.”

What begins as a self-reflective realization unfolds into something more expansive. A desire to move beyond isolation and into something meaningful with another person, it’s a sentiment that feels both deeply personal and widely relatable.

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Levi Taschuk - Benefit of the Doubt.

Levi Taschuk is a 28 year old singer-songwriter currently based in the small town of Salmon Arm in Canada. His songwriting practice developed a little later in life, beginning in his early twenties, but he’s been a life-long and obsessive listener which has helped him make up for the lost time . 

His influences range from Bach to Brahms; Chet Baker to Stevie Wonder; Nick Drake to Sibylle Baier; Coldplay to Radiohead and too many others to name. In 2024 he had the opportunity to spend a week in New York, recording a three-track EP with producers Miles Hewitt and Karl Helander, a project for which he managed to recruit violinist Jake Falby (Julie Byrne, Mutual Benefit). 

Taschuk then began work on his forthcoming, debut LP, Dyna Dyvest, in May 2024 with co-producer/performer Connor Mead, finishing the recording process about a year-and-a-half later. He also recorded two songs on the upcoming album with co-producer/performer Evan Cheadle.

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The Veils - Aurora.

The Veils have shared a music video for their newest single “Aurora”. “Aurora” is an introspective, deceivingly stripped-back track with stunning depth. Driven by an unwavering piano and haunting layered vocals from Finn Andrews, who explains “This song was written as it was being recorded, which is a very rare thing for me. The day we made it, there was a huge geomagnetic storm over parts of New Zealand, and the pictures of the aurora that followed were in all the papers. Sometimes things are so beautifully simple.”

Arriving just over a year after their critically acclaimed ‘Asphodels’, ‘Fragile World’ marks a striking shift in tone and energy for the band. Recorded live to tape in New Zealand by Paddy Hill, with production by Tom Healy (Folk Bitch Trio, Tiny Ruins, The Chills), ‘Fragile World’ captures The Veils in an urgent and instinctive mode.

The Veils' Finn Andrews shared on the album: “I make each album, generally, as a kind of atonement for the last. Asphodels was so quiet and introspective, I think I just wanted to make something strident and full of life for a goddamn change.” The album’s title is both a reflection of the present moment - a time in which many institutions appear to be crumbling before our eyes - and a metaphor for the act of creation itself. The process of making music, Andrews notes, is a delicate and fragile undertaking where thousands of small decisions gradually coalesce into a finished whole. 

“We went into the studio with a lot of songs, but very little idea of the arrangements or instrumentation. It was truly exciting having no idea what this record would sound like and only a few weeks to figure it out. It’s mostly Tom and I playing everything, with Joseph McCallum coming in at times. It was all very instinctual, quite full-on, and scary at times - but a good kind of scary, not scary like the real world out there.”

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JunkHeap - We All Have To Grow.

We need to grow mentally as we age; no excuses. Learn more about ourselves, our world – micro to macro - and our universe. Without enough knowledge and understanding we can be easily manipulated or deceived, and it's easy to blame others and live within misdirected anger. It’s best to find a way forward together as well-informed and intelligent individuals. Whether we do or not only time will tell.

Located in Ottawa, Canada, JunkHeap’s Dave Turnbull is a solo singer/songwriter/producer, who has been writing music since his teens. Feels like eons ago to him. First on guitar and then he started to learn drums. He played in bands as a drummer but kept writing with the guitar.

His dad played jazz piano, which no doubt built his ear for melodies in the early years. As he grew into his teens musical tastes broadened into the rock sounds over the decades, New wave synth 80s music, and a bit of punk. JunkHeap aligns more with the sounds of Stone Temple Pilots, XTC, Talking Heads, Bush, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, Robbie Robertson among others. Influences include Genesis, The Beatles, Harlequin, Styx, The Jam, The Police, Led Zep, Supertramp, April Wine, Pearl Jam, among others, and also various jazz and classical sounds. The JunkHeap sound falls within the pop-alternative rock genre.

Back to the story! As the decades went by and technology improved JunkHeap was formed. It happened because after having played in several bands the next logical step was to play solo, but JunkHeap became more than a guy with a guitar. Technology allowed for Dave to build entire songs and be the entire band. “It was a good feeling, finally being in full control of the music creation process” he said one time. With each successive album his sound develops and matures, including the production quality. Dave is working with a band to play some of the JunkHeap tunes live in the near future, though no dates have been set yet.

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Photo - Sam Johnson

Hunter Morris / Mountain of Youth - Everything Falls Apart.

Hunter Morris / Mountain of Youth will release the debut album, Nowhere, NW, on May 15, 2026 via Strolling Bones Records. The 10-track set was produced by the multi-instrumentalist Ben Hackett (Patterson Hood, Craig Finn) and recorded at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA. The remarkable debut emerges as a sort of equilibrium state, balancing Morris’s breezy heartland and lo-fi garage influences with his ‘70s singer/songwriter and ‘90s grunge sensibilities. 

The songs are mature and reflective, reckoning with loneliness, regret, and mortality, and the performances are raw and vulnerable to match, with lean, muscular arrangements. It’s an honest, empathetic meditation on purpose and impermanence delivered by a keen observer of the human condition, one who’s only just begun to truly understand himself. “When I started writing these songs as Mountain of Youth, it felt like I’d finally found my voice,” Morris reflects. “For the first time, I felt comfortable saying what I needed to say.” 

Today the album standout song “Everything Falls Apart” has been shared. Morris says, "Quite often, the people who have constructed a picture book life are actually living a lie and are very unhappy in that life. I just liked using the imagery of a house that someone has constructed to show how perfect their life is and then the house eventually comes crashing down." 

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Kathryn Grimm - Primula - M. John Henry - Beached Out - The Legal Matters - Marcello Di Luna - The Veils

Kathryn Grimm - Treat Me Like Gold.

The new visualizer and single "Treat Me Like Gold" from award-winning Portland based singer/songwriter and musician Kathryn Grimm has just been released. The blues rock track "is a playful song about someone who knows their worth advising a less than appreciative partner to hurry up and realize what they’ve got," shares the artist. 

Kathryn Grimm has collaborated with the likes of Jeff Buckley (backed her up in her original band “Group Therapy”), Michael Bolton and more. LA Times praised Kathryn stating that she "pummels crowds into a blissful heap”. 

Kathryn stays busy with her many projects including “The Kathryn Grimm Band” (KGB), “The Jazz Rockets”, “Hippie Love Slave”, “Babes In Portland”; and hosts a quarterly Blues/Jazz Jam. She also offers her skills as a player backing up select artists on guitar, bass, piano, vocals (“Mekong River Band”) and as a writer (several of her songs are featured in playwright Alan Alexander III’s award winning “Homeless, The Musical”). Academically she holds degrees at The Guitar Institute (Hollywood CA) and Cal State, L.A. (BA / MA - Jazz Studies / Commercial Music).

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Primula - Cobblestone.

Swedish band Primula steps into a new chapter ahead of their upcoming EP ‘Nothing New’. Recorded live and guided by a willingness to go against the grain, the track showcases the matured sound the band have grown into. Rather than following conventional three-minute structures and predictable choruses, Primula embraces tension and space that many musicians shy away from. The result is far from run-of-the-mill indie as their tracks shift seamlessly between fragility and power, driven by Ella’s striking and unconventional vocals.

‘Cobblestone’ is about the uncomfortable yet reassuring realization that you are not the center of the world, but rather one small part of something much larger. It reflects the inner shift that often comes during periods of change and growing up. Times like this make identity feel less certain and allow new
perspectives to begin to take shape. The title itself acts as a metaphor: a single cobblestone may appear ordinary, but without each stone, the road would not exist.

“‘Cobblestone’ is about the difficult yet comforting realization that you’re just a small piece in a much bigger world. There’s a freedom in not having to be so significant on your own. Even if you feel insignificant by yourself, you’re still an essential part of making something whole.”

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M. John Henry - Evelyn.

M. John Henry, Scottish songwriter and singer in the bands De Rosa (Chemikal Underground, Rock Action Records) and Whin (duo with Robert Dallas Gray of Life Without Buildings) has released the single 'Evelyn' from his new solo album, M. John Henry - 'Early Songs, Of Late' (out now). The single is out now on Gargleblast Records. The new LP is a collection of stripped back recordings made in 2025 which revisit music from the time of my debut album with De Rosa in the mid 2000s. It includes reworked and reimagined versions of songs from 'Mend' (2006), as well as some contemporaneous unreleased songs, recorded here for the first time. 

Ex-De Rosa frontman and Bellshill's shadier pop songsmith M. John Henry turns to his back catalogue with new album -‘Early Songs, Of Late’ (out now) - a beautiful collection of reworked and newly performed versions of classic songs and unreleased material. 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of 'Mend' – De Rosa's 2006 debut - which put Henry's songwriting on the map for its deep connection to his post-industrial homeland.

A three decade career later and we find Henry seeking alternative paths through what were once jagged, indie-folk cuts and arriving in darkly pastoral territory. “The kind of parochial majesty you might encounter if Pixies reworked The Go-Betweens' 'Before Hollywood' for a documentary about the social history of Lanarkshire...”, MOJO magazine wrote of 'Mend'. Swap in Bert Jansch and Mark Eitzel and you might be heading in Henry's direction on 'Early Songs, Of Late'.

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Beached Out - Variable Rate.

Beached Out is a Peterborough, Ontario–based indie rock duo made up of Anne and Jeff Parker. Formed through a long-running creative partnership, the band blends fuzzed-out, ’90s-leaning indie rock with concise, narrative-driven songwriting. Their work explores memory, relationships, and the tension between ambition and everyday life. Their first full-length album, Average Weekends, spans eleven tracks that move between hook-driven guitar songs, reflective moments, and character-focused storytelling. Written and recorded over eight months, the album is fully collaborative, with Jeff and Anne sharing vocals and songwriting equally.

Their third single Variable Rate has been released this weekend and is yet another beautiful example of what to anticipate when the album is released. We are also told regarding the album: The record opens with the deceptively bright “Variable Rate,” followed by the moody churn of “Falling for Sure,” which explores miscommunication and emotional distance. “Hands in Reverse” shifts toward connection, while “1000 Trees” draws on the eerie calm of an ice storm. The surf-tinged title track (a nod to Canadian icons Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet) reflects a search for balance in a hectic world.

Elsewhere, the album leans into character studies and memory-driven vignettes, from the washed-up wrestler tale of “Half Nelson” to the bittersweet nostalgia of “Supervillain.” The record ultimately balances regret and contentment, landing on intimacy and hope.

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The Legal Matters - Lost At Sea (Album).

The new album from Michigan indie pop all-stars The Legal Matters. The band's fourth full-length record (and their first for BSR) Lost At Sea has seen worldwide release on Vinyl, CD and Streaming from yesterday February 27. Already previewed by the indie hit single “Everybody Knows” with “The Message” soon to follow, the album is a triumph of sharp hooks, songwriting and performances even by the high standards set by the band on their acclaimed previous albums.

It's become traditional to refer to The Legal Matters as a “midwestern power pop supergroup,” but they've long since transcended that label. It's true that when the band formed in 2013, Keith Klingensmith, Andy Reed and Chris Richards were already key players on the Michigan scene, with a combined pedigree encompassing beloved bands like The Phenomenal Cats, An American Underdog, and Richards' ongoing solo career with The Subtractions. 

But they've undeniably become a force of their own, and more than the sum of their parts, over the course of releasing three of the most celebrated indie pop albums of recent decades: their self-titled 2014 debut, 2016's Conrad (one of the few albums by emerging artists to be backed by reissue powerhouse Omnivore Recordings) and 2021's Chapter Three. All three garnered critical praise and berths on Year's Best Albums list across the indie pop world from Popdose and MusicTAP to the UK's I Don't Hear A Single and beyond, and the list of classic artists artists referenced in those glowing notices – Big Star, Badfinger, Teenage Fanclub, Fountains Of Wayne, Crowded House – does provide some idea of what to expect. What sets The Legal Matters apart, though, is the magic of their chemistry as songwriters, harmonizing vocalists and players.

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Marcello Di Luna -  Hanalei Bay.

When he’s not on stage with the band Wintershome or working as a ski instructor (and until October 2025 serving fresh trout at the “Gault&Millau” awarded “Chalet Alm”), Martial Chanton dedicates himself to his own music. Under the name Marcello di Luna, he creates enchanting, atmospheric indie folk infused with the spirit of lo-fi and driven by grand melodies. Equally expansive are the sonic landscapes that unfold in his new single “Hanalei Bay.”

Marcello di Luna’s most important instrument is the acoustic guitar — and, of course, his voice. He sings about closeness, about doubt, and about what it means to be human. “Hanalei Bay” (released yesterday February 27) also reflects the striking contrast and the unexpected similarities between the mountains of Valais, where he grew up, and the ocean.

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The Veils - Lungs.

Following the critically acclaimed release of ‘Asphodels’ in 2025, The Veils quickly return with a bold and invigorated new album titled ‘Fragile World’, out 19 June on V2 Records. The first single ‘Lungs’ is released this weekend. Arriving just over a year after their last release, ‘Fragile World’ marks a striking shift in tone and energy for the band. Recorded live to tape in New Zealand by Paddy Hill, with production by Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, The Chills, Folk Bitch Trio), ‘Fragile World’, captures The Veils in an urgent and instinctive mode.

As can be heard on the first single ‘Lungs’ of which frontman Finn Andrews says: “I make each album, generally, as a kind of atonement for the last. Asphodels was so quiet and introspective, I think I just wanted to make something strident and full of life for a goddamn change. I wrote the lyric for this years ago, while I still lived in London and I still smoked fags.”

The album’s title is both a reflection of the present moment - a time in which many institutions appear to be crumbling before our eyes - and a metaphor for the act of creation itself. The process of making music, Andrews notes, is a delicate and fragile undertaking where thousands of small decisions gradually coalesce into a finished whole.

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