Award-winning singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot returns with ‘Virginia, Unhinged’, a fearless and wonderfully uncompromising new single that explores female empowerment, midlife awakening and the anger that can build after years of putting everybody else first. The track is the title song from her highly anticipated forthcoming album, which Duvekot describes as a liberation record: raw, funny, profane, emotionally unfiltered and unapologetically unconciliatory.
Explaining the inspiration, Duvekot says the song is about “a woman who reaches her limits and stops caring what anyone thinks”. It captures the moment when a lifelong people pleaser discovers her own strength, alongside a previously buried anger at the expectations and roles she was taught to accept as a woman. It's a bold subject, delivered with the honesty and sharp observational instincts that have become hallmarks of her songwriting.
Born in Germany and moving to the United States as a young teenager, Duvekot began developing her distinctive perspective through the experience of growing up between cultures. Picking up a guitar in high school, she found inspiration in the confessional folk songwriting of Dar Williams and Ani DiFranco, discovering the freedom to turn personal observations into songs. That commitment to vulnerability has remained central to her work, allowing deeply individual experiences to connect with listeners on a universal level.
With six studio albums to her name, including the Seth Glier-produced No, Duvekot has built an impressive catalogue and collaborated with an equally distinguished collection of musicians. Her recordings have featured contributions from Anaïs Mitchell, Dar Williams, Rose Cousins, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky, among many others. ‘Virginia, Unhinged’ promises a particularly exciting new chapter, with Duvekot embracing a fiercer, less conciliatory voice. It's refreshing to hear an artist so willing to challenge expectations and turn difficult emotions into something powerful, entertaining and liberating.
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Cynthia Bourne, who records under the name donteldad, introduces a compelling new musical chapter with Ghost Stories, a four-song EP released on October 30. Also known through southern Indiana Americana/pop outfit Cynthia & The End Times, Bourne steps into her donteldad identity with a collection that feels like an intriguing addition to the worlds of folk-rock, alt-country and independent pop.
Written in collaboration with Hudsy, who also produced the recordings, the EP brings together four tracks: ‘Pep Talk’, ‘The Ghost’, ‘Go Drugs’ and ‘Dead to Me’. At just 14 minutes, Ghost Stories is a concise collection, but its carefully chosen title and song names suggest a songwriter interested in the complicated emotions, memories and experiences that stay with us.
‘The Ghost’ was the track Bourne originally suggested as the starting point for the project, providing the initial spark for the collection. It's always interesting to hear how a single song can open the door to a wider creative direction, and the collaboration with Hudsy has given Bourne the opportunity to explore that idea under her donteldad name.
With Ghost Stories, donteldad offers an appealing introduction to Cynthia Bourne's solo songwriting world. The combination of Americana roots, pop sensibility and independent spirit makes this a release well worth discovering, and we're looking forward to hearing where this new musical direction takes her next.
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Paris-based singer, songwriter and producer Bleu Reine (Léa Lotz) returns with ‘I Bet You Bet on Me’, the second single from her forthcoming sophomore album, En Sursaut, due February 5, 2027, via French independent label Géographie. A striking blend of dark pop and industrial undertones, the track has the atmosphere of a techno-thriller soundtrack, combining brooding textures with a distinctive electronic edge.
Written in a single sitting in 2025 at Ventre de la Baleine, a former industrial factory transformed into a music studio, the song explores the unsettling experience of being the racehorse everyone has placed their bets on. Beneath that intriguing image lies a deeper examination of expectations, ambition and the pressures placed on women. Bleu Reine uses the track to explore the complex mechanics of the Pygmalion effect and how the beliefs and expectations of others can shape the lives of girls and women.
Since 2019, Lotz has been an active presence in France's DIY alternative scene, developing a sound that brings together nostalgic, grunge-coated dream rock and richly layered synth-pop, illuminated by a distinctive digital glow. Equally comfortable working collaboratively and exploring her own creative space, she has also performed live and in the studio for various projects in France and beyond. As a solo performer, she has supported an impressive range of international artists, including US Girls, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Lucy Kruger, Cinder Well and Jozef van Wissem.
Following her 2023 debut album, La Saison fantôme, released through Sanit Mils Records, and an extensive European tour, Bleu Reine has completed work on En Sursaut. ‘I Bet You Bet on Me’ offers an intriguing glimpse of what promises to be an adventurous new record, with its combination of atmospheric electronics, dark pop sensibilities and thought-provoking subject matter. Bleu Reine is an artist confidently carving out her own distinctive territory, and this latest single makes the forthcoming album one to look forward to.
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| Photo - Sequoia Ziff |
ARIA Award-winning, London-based Australian singer-songwriter Georgia Mooney makes a wonderfully dramatic return with ‘Australian Crawl’, the invigorating first single from her forthcoming second album, Private Theatre. Turning an experience of romantic rejection into something grand, heartfelt and unexpectedly uplifting, Mooney delivers a mesmerising piece of maxi-folk that combines emotional honesty with a rich and adventurous musical palette. Imagine a Victorian ghost discovering indie-folk, and you're somewhere close to the magic of this captivating track.
The song grew out of a real-life declaration of love to a friend. Mooney wrote a speech expressing her feelings, then gave him two weeks to consider his response before arranging to meet beneath a fig tree in the botanical gardens. He arrived late and ultimately turned her down, but the experience left her with an unexpected sense of freedom. As she explains, she believes opening yourself up to loving someone is “the noblest of offerings” and that there was a sense of deliverance in knowing she had done everything she could.
Named after the swimming stroke, ‘Australian Crawl’ captures the bittersweet business of telling someone you love them without expecting those feelings to be returned. Its driving rhythm and beautifully blended musical colours bring to mind early Martha Wainwright and Sharon Van Etten, while the refrain, “Still it felt good to say it… touch the ocean floor… push off and Australian Crawl”, provides a wonderfully evocative image of finding the strength to keep moving.
Recorded with UK producer Marcus Hamblett (Laura Marling, Villagers, The Staves), the single is a richly layered tapestry of analogue and electronic sounds. Hamblett's extensive synth collection sits alongside Mooney's Appalachian dulcimer, while piano dances with bass clarinet before a soaring guitar solo breaks through the arrangement. It's an inventive, beautifully produced recording that gives Mooney's emotional storytelling plenty of room to flourish. ‘Australian Crawl’ is a compelling introduction to Private Theatre and a reminder that even the most painful romantic experiences can inspire something genuinely beautiful.
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| Photo - Holly Andres |
Acclaimed indie-folk singer-songwriter Laura Gibson has announced an exciting new chapter in her career, signing with two highly regarded independent labels, Portland's Fluff & Gravy Records and London's Loose Music. Both have impressive reputations for championing exceptional songwriting talent, with Fluff & Gravy's recent releases including Anna Tivel and Alela Diane, while Loose Music has been home to artists such as Neko Case, Courtney Marie Andrews and Sturgill Simpson. Gibson is clearly delighted with the partnerships, describing both labels as home to true music lovers and thoughtful people whose releases she has admired for years.
To celebrate the announcements, Gibson has shared ‘Sylvia’, her first new solo music since 2018's Goners, released through Barsuk/City Slang. Recorded live at Portland's legendary Jackpot! Studio with engineer Zach Bloomstein, the track features just Gibson and her guitar, allowing the intimacy of her performance and the strength of her songwriting to take centre stage.
Gibson describes ‘Sylvia’ as one of her favourite songs she has ever written, explaining that its lyrics took shape gradually over several years and through significant personal upheavals. At its heart is a story of two women: one who readily embraces pleasure, and another who believes discipline might offer salvation. Both recognise something genuinely good in the other, yet struggle to see that same goodness within themselves. Gibson's own reflections on the search for moral certainty and the importance of connection between women give the song an especially thoughtful emotional depth.
There is something particularly appealing about hearing an accomplished songwriter strip everything back to voice and guitar, trusting the song to speak for itself. ‘Sylvia’ offers a wonderfully intimate introduction to this next phase of Gibson's musical journey, combining lyrical intelligence with a warmth and vulnerability that have long made her work so distinctive. With two passionate independent labels now behind her, it's exciting to see Laura Gibson back making music and sharing it with the world.
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Indie rock and alt-pop artist Theo Moss makes a compelling impression with ‘Spinning’, the first single from her forthcoming second EP. Produced by Melina Mae Cortez Duterte (Jay Som), the track combines raw, honest songwriting with gritty guitars and an infectious alternative-pop energy. Drawing on the spirit of 1990s alternative rock and early 2000s indie pop, it offers an exciting glimpse of an artist confidently exploring new creative territory.
At its heart, ‘Spinning’ is about the changing nature of friendships and the longing to recapture a connection that once felt effortless. Moss explains that the song grew from wanting to experience the same closeness with someone from her hometown that they shared in the past, despite the distance and changes that life brings. It's a feeling many will recognise: wishing we could return to an earlier point in our lives and preserve certain relationships just as they were, while understanding that growing and moving forward is part of life.
Moss's musical journey has taken an interesting route. Having spent more than 12 years studying violin and immersing herself in classical music, she eventually found the confines of that environment restrictive to her creativity. Her developing sound now embraces a much broader palette, bringing together alternative rock guitars, indie-pop melodies and a more direct, personal approach to songwriting.
‘Spinning’ is a refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable introduction to this next chapter. The combination of emotionally open lyrics, gritty instrumentation and polished production makes for a track that rewards repeated listening, while Duterte's production gives Moss's sound plenty of character. There's a real sense of artistic freedom here, and we're looking forward to hearing how she develops this promising direction across the forthcoming EP.
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