The Legal Matters - Victoria Staff - The Slow Day - Prophets Of Addiction

The Legal Matters - The Message.

With a new album from beloved Michigan indie pop heroes The Legal Matter announced we now have the second single from the record. “The Message,” the follow up to last month's surprise indie hit “Everybody Knows,” is out now, with a month to go before the release of the band's fourth album Lost At Sea.

Describing the process behind the writing and recording of their music we are told “We all chipped in on lyrics. Chris has a stronger voice than I do, so I wanted him to sing the chorus lead. It has a bit more punch that way. We're all super happy with the end result.” 

That sense of collaboration has defined The Legal Matters from the beginning, and while it's always given the band a power that places them among the most thrilling and original practitioners of the power pop sound, now or throughout the genre's history, it's never been more apparent than on the new album. Get “The Message,” and pack your bags for a journey that will find you Lost At Sea with The Legal Matters on what's sure to be one of the most-lauded (and loved) albums of 2026. 

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Victoria Staff - Sweet Blue Moon.

Toronto's Victoria Staff returns with "Sweet Blue Moon," a reflective, romantic single that traces a relationship from its first spark through its unraveling, and finally into the quiet space of looking back. Rather than framing love as something purely good or bad, the track lingers in the in-between and honours the rare moments that mattered, even when everything else fell apart.

The name came late in the process. "This song didn't have a title for a long time," Staff explains. "It was just 'that song without a name' that my producer Will Crann and I were making." While listening back, the phrase "Sweet Blue Moon" surfaced as a subtle twist on the familiar idiom. "This song isn't just about rare moments," she says. "It's about rare moments you enjoyed, and being happy you have them to hold onto.”

Structurally, the song mirrors the emotional arc it explores. "There really isn't any part of this song that repeats, because it's not about any one thing," Staff notes. The track unfolds in three distinct choruses, each reflecting a different phase of the same relationship. The first is rooted in confidence and possibility, written with straightforward major chords. The second shifts into collapse, moving through relative minors that intentionally create tension and unease. By the final chorus, the song returns to major chords but with variations that introduce uncertainty, echoing the unresolved nature of memory and reflection.

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The Slow Day - Antidote.

Formed in Manchester, UK, The Slow Day blends raw emotional energy with a gritty alt-rock edge, fusing soulful Americana, blues, and indie rock into a sound that’s both familiar and fiercely original.

Their debut single “The Poet” introduced a band with heart and howl, while “I Can’t Sleep” earned praise for its smoky, psychedelic intensity — described by A&R Factory as “beautifully raw.” Known for dynamic vocals, anthemic choruses, and atmospheric grit, The Slow Day quickly carved out a cult following before having to step away in 2020.

Returning in 2025, the band reconnected with the stage, starting with their sell-out comeback show at Gullivers in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, and are now poised to release new music  - starting with their new single "Antidote", set to land on 2 February 2026. 

They’ve been described and hailed by one acclaimed music journalist: “If there’s any Manchester band worth getting excited about… it’s The Slow Day with their anthemically charged sound. Their name is criminally deceptive.”

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Prophets Of Addiction - Slippin’ Away.

West Coast based glam, punk 'n' rollers Prophets Of Addiction have released the new music video for the track "Slippin’ Away" from their latest album "Face the Music" through BraveWords Records.

Speaking about the new single “Slippin’ Away” lead singer Lesli Sanders said, "This is one of the most important songs that I have ever written lyrically. This is a tribute to my dad, as I was by his side for the last year of his life every day as he battled cancer."

As for 2026 the vinyl  of “Face the Music” has just been released on German Label Night of the Vinyl Dead. (Here).

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Rachael Sage - Victoria Staff - Joel Cusumano - Kashena Sampson - Nick & June

Photo - Jenny He

Rachael Sage - Belong To You [feat. The Sequins & Will Wilde].

Beloved folk-pop singer-songwriter Rachael Sage and her longtime band The Sequins have released their new single “Belong To You” from their upcoming studio album Canopy, out October 24 via MPress Records. 

“I wrote ‘Belong To You’ as a gospel ballad and it was really meaningful that so many of The Sequins ended up singing on it, versus just me singing all the harmonies myself,” shares Sage on the new single. “The Hammond organ and harmonica – played by Kevin J. Killen and Will Wilde, respectively – add so much and Dave Eggar’s cello playing grounds the arrangement so beautifully. The devotion and loyalty of our friendships expressed in the lyrics is something I know we all genuinely feel for one another, and in that sense it’s a very emotional song for me to sing. It’s probably the most universal song on the record and it’s been really gratifying to have live listeners at shows come up and share their own interpretations of it.”

A much-needed musical reprieve from our current cultural upheaval, Canopy is equal parts emotional exhale and invitation to a more compassionate future, as well as a masterclass in radical inclusivity and self-acceptance. “Creating safety and inclusivity in times of divisiveness can be a radical and powerful act; it takes courage to stand up for justice and for our fellow human beings,” Sage adds. “Acceptance, inclusivity and safety are big themes on Canopy.”

RachaelSage · Belong to You

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Victoria Staff - Love Should Feel.

Toronto's Victoria Staff returns with "Love Should Feel" – a bright, romantic indie-pop single that soaks in the joy of love when it's simple, easy, and right. The track beams with warmth, capturing that rare kind of connection where everything else fades into the background.

"For a long time, I thought love was something that was supposed to be difficult. It was supposed to be chased and fought for," Staff says. "Turns out, it's supposed to be easy. 'Love Should Feel' is about just basking in how simple good love is."

That sense of playful ease even made its way into the single artwork – though not without chaos. The idea was simple: a dive into a lake surrounded by sunflowers. The execution? Not so much. "We had about 75 sunflowers, but the stems were too heavy and started sinking, so we were frantically cutting them down in the boat. Every time I jumped off, the boat moved, the flowers scattered, and we had to rearrange them again," Staff explains. "Then the seagulls started circling, thinking they were food," she laughs. "And all of this was on film so we didn't even know if we had the shot until we got home."

With its buoyant melodies and heartfelt lyricism, "Love Should Feel" showcases Staff at her most joyful. "This song is special to me because there are no bad memories tied to it. From writing to recording to releasing, it's been easy, and that's exactly how love should feel."

Victoria Staff · Love Should Feel

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Joel Cusumano - Two Arrows.

Dandy Boy Records has announced the fiery debut power pop LP from a Bay Area underground mainstay, Joel Cusumano. The album comes out on October 24th, but you can get a taste with the lead single, "Two Arrows" Joel Cusumano has played a huge role in the Bay Area underground scene for years—as songwriter and/or lead guitarist in a wide-ranging lineup of bands such as Sob Stories, R.E. Seraphin, and Body Double.

Cusumano began writing the music that would become his first solo album, WaxWorld, after a stint in a mental hospital treating his debilitating OCD: “It was bleak. For a year I could barely function, barely leave the house. After [the hospital] I recovered pretty rapidly. But instead of feeling relief, there was dread, like, ‘Well, what now’? You spend over a year falling off the deep end and you’re a different person when you hit the ground … I needed to write differently than I had before. I was looking around the world and not recognizing what I saw. 

The songs had to reflect that alienation. I was done with the ‘angry young man’ jilted lover stuff I’d been doing in Sob Stories. I was bored with that kind of boilerplate rock’n’roll topography.” A painful breakup at the end of writing process further sharpened Cusumano’s eye towards material reflecting his growing unease in a world in unrelenting flux.

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Photo - Jon Karr

Kashena Sampson - Phases.

Nashville-based singer-songcrafter Kashena Sampson has released “Phases,” the latest from her forthcoming LP, Ghost Of Me, out on October 3. “Kashena Sampson describes ‘Phases’ as ‘a spell of self-reflection, a way of honoring all sides of myself - the light and the shadow.’

 “Like the moon, we all go through phases, and I’ve come to see how always trying to please everyone and never rocking the boat only leads to self-abandonment,” Sampson told Magnet Magazine. “I finally grew brave enough to say, ‘I’m done with that charade. I’m done giving myself away just to keep the peace.’” “The song is a ritual and affirmation for letting go of what no longer serves me. It’s OK to get mad, to say no, to change your mind, to walk away. It’s not only OK—it’s empowering.”
 
Ghost Of Me is structured like a ritual under the phases of the moon, a cycle of letting go, calling in, and rising again. That arc is felt across both the tracklist and the album’s release timeline, which intentionally aligns key singles and events with lunar milestones. Today, “Phases” emerges ahead of a rare September 21 convergence of the solar eclipse, new moon, and International Day of Peace, a moment echoed in the song’s psychedelic swirl and lunar howl. September 22 is the Fall Equinox, bringing with it a powerful time of reflection, growth, and new beginnings. “Rear View Mirror” arrived on July 25, just after the July 24 new moon. Built around crashing cymbals and guitarist B.L. Reed’s power chords, the song drives forward with the force of personal reckoning. The title track landed in time for new moon intention-setting on August 23, embracing the theme of transformation at the heart of the record. The full album will be unveiled on October 3, just ahead of the full moon on October 6, which culminates the record’s lunar journey.

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Nick & June - Husband & Wife (feat. Owen Pallet).

Berlin duo Nick & June will release their new album 'New Year's Face' on 5th December. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Sharon Van Etten,) and recorded in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 'New Year's Face', which includes collaborations with Owen Pallett, The National’s Kyle Resnick and Ben Lanz, The Antlers and others, will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally. 'New Year's Face' is the duo's first release since 2023's 'Beach Baby, Baby EP', which enjoyed over 30 million streams, widespread critical praise and led to sold-out shows across Europe. To accompany today's announcement Nick & June have today unveiled a video to new single 'Husband & Wife'.

At the end of a long relationship, you don’t usually find yourself sitting at a studio piano with your ex, writing songs. Or do you? In this case, you pack a suitcase, get on a plane, decamp to the small and melancholic harbour town of Bridgeport, Connecticut and begin work on a new record. 'New Year’s Face' is the outcome of this strange experiment: two ex-lovers, one studio, months of work and discovery. Together with Grammy-winning producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Sharon Van Etten, Stars), they settled in and shaped ten songs that feel at once intimate and expansive, fragile and resilient.

Nick & June drift through a shimmering haze of reverb-soaked guitars, vibrating synths and gently pulsing beats and drums. Their voices merge into a hypnotic mélange, guiding listeners through a delicate balance of euphorically staged restraint and intricate, winding thoughts. Their sound is an eclectic fusion of indie folk, evoking Bon Iver, Velvet Underground and Big Thief, blended with the dream-pop textures of Beach House and Lana Del Rey and the alternative rock of The National, St. Vincent and Mazzy Star.

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Zoe & Cloyd - Victoria Staff - Burr Island - Anya Baghina

Zoe & Cloyd - We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart.

In May, Asheville, North Carolina duo Zoe & Cloyd will release their album, Songs of Our Grandfathers, which weaves together the musical legacies of Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller’s families. Both of their grandfathers were hard-working practitioners of musical styles — klezmer and bluegrass — birthed in two different cultures and originally separated by thousands of miles, yet Weinstein and Miller artfully blend them in exciting and innovative ways. 

Ahead of the album release, Zoe & Cloyd have released four singles from the album, and now they share a music video for one, “We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart,” from the rich bluegrass heritage of John Cloyd Miller’s grandfather.

Says Miller, “This classic bluegrass number was one of four sides my grandfather Jim Shumate recorded with Flatt & Scruggs for the Mercury label in 1948. That early lineup of the Foggy Mountain Boys — featuring Jim, Mac Wiseman, Cedric Rainwater and, of course, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs — was a force of nature and set the standard for bluegrass moving forward. We were excited to revisit the energy and tastefulness of that iconic recording." It’s a track that will bring a smile to those who know every note of the vintage recording even as it reflects Zoe & Cloyd’s unique creative touches.

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Victoria Staff - Olive and Ruby.

This is a thoughtful and beautiful song that is delivered with vocals that are full of touching emotion and combine wonderfully with a perfectly matched musical backdrop.

Victoria Staff has the following to tell us: "Is it a cliche to say I don't remember not writing music? You can blame my parents for putting me in piano lessons at five, they say it "developed character." But from day one, I was more interested in playing the pieces I made up than the music I was assigned.

I write music for the same reasons I run and bake and hang out with friends and family – it makes me feel better, and I'll continue to write music as long as it makes me happy. And that's what I want you to hear in my music, holding on to the memories I want and finding a way to process the memories I need to let go of.

There was a coffee shop in Vancouver that I spent a lot of time in while I lived there. It shut down during the pandemic and I was devastated. First and foremost – they had INCREDIBLE banana bread and chai lattes, but also this shop was a keystone in my Vancouver life and it was gone forever.

I wrote "Olive and Ruby" so I could try to hold onto the way I remembered the cafe. I didn't want it to be one of those memories that just turns lackluster with time and fades. I wanted to make sure I held onto all the little bits that made that place familiar."

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Burr Island - Distant Stars.

From the UK’s West Country, duo and best friends, Tom England and Oskar Porter, are to release their stunning debut single ‘Distant Stars.’ Recorded at Kundalini Studios in Devon and produced by Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene/Paul Weller/The Specials/P.P. Arnold), the song explores themes like the expansiveness of the cosmos and how selflessness can allow us to open up to the boundless beauty of the universe.

Burr Island say, “It's about trying to discover a greater truth in life through someone we love.” With its raw instrumentation, tight harmonies, and bursting positivity, ‘Distant Stars’ will leave you feeling uplifted and full of life. Having harnessed a core following round the Glastonbury type fields of yore, Burr Island are an Alternative Indie Folk duo, whose close harmonies have brought comparison to the iconic Simon & Garfunkel, however, their originals and equally introspective lyrics bring new meaning to that golden era of San Francisco ‘happening’ hippie spirit, as channelled through their beloved West Country, as they take you on their own Burr Island; an intimate, melodic journey and state, in search of meaning and humane value.

The duo, born in 2022 after a decade of friendship, explore themes of growth, beauty, and truth in their music. The West Country pair grew from strength to strength in 2022 with several headline shows, plus recording at Kundalini Studios in Devon with Steve Cradock (OCS). In September, they supported Steve Pilgrim & Paul Weller at Union Chapel in London, before embarking on their biggest venture yet, a UK December Tour supporting Ocean Colour Scene, playing at multiple O2 Academy venues and music halls. They’ve since landed a live agent, PR and a very passionate team who intend to see Burr Island break through to a mainstream audience as only the very best do.

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Anya Baghina - For Now.

Indie pop artist Anya Baghina is proud to release “For Now”, the lead single from her upcoming self-titled album. due for release this summer. Anya Baghina spends "For Now" self-analyzing and talking to herself, trying to understand why she makes certain life choices and how to follow her own intuition rather than others'. It's about accepting insecurity and doubt, realizing you don't have to follow another's path or follow someone's footsteps.

Anya Baghina releases her debut self-titled LP on June 23rd, 2023. It was mixed by Lucas Knapp (Dear Life Records, Double Double Whammy), mastered by Elaine Rasnake at Daughterboard Audio, and produced by Jonathan Franco. Accessible melodies are balanced with sometimes nonlinear song structures and progressive arrangements, ranging from shoegazey dream pop to slide guitar-fuelled jangly indie folk to synth-driven ambient soundscapes to distorted indie rock. Its lyrics oscillate from resigned to hopeful, biting to patiently observant, and grief-stricken to something approaching peace.

In "For Now", Anya Baghina says she is talking to herself, trying to figure out why she's made certain decisions in life and how to follow her own guidance. "When I mention 'her' in the song, it’s a personal reference to my mother, who passed away in 2017. It’s about coming to terms with insecurity and doubt, and realizing you don’t have to follow a path that is laid out for you. As a result of my efforts to become the person she wanted me to be, I lost myself. During that time, I created an artist residency as a safe place for grief and re-discovery. It was my opportunity to 'take a seat and listen carefully' and find my own voice" says Baghina.

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