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| Photo - Emily Preston |
There is something acutely uncomfortable in being human, in loving and learning to let go, and WA-based indie folk-rock artist Rosscoe Frantz masterfully captures those sentiments in his latest single, ‘Raw and Bitter’, out yesterday Friday, March 20. In 2025, Rosscoe Frantz released his debut EP 'Share House', adding another notch to his belt. He has supported the likes of Sarah Blasko, Boy and Bear, and Pete Murray, performed at Blues at Bridgetown Festival, sold out his EP launch at 459 Bar in Perth, and landed on Spotify and Apple Music playlists.
Building on that momentum, ‘Raw and Bitter’ sees Rosscoe Frantz further the terrain he has already begun to map out. Softly strummed guitar with a healthy dose of reverb and grit open the track, as the sleepy arrangement wakes up, bringing in elements of percussion and lead guitar. Rich vocals cut daggers with Frantz’s emotive lyrics; the refrain ‘everything turned raw and bitter’ sings out across the musical room, breaking like a teenage heart losing their first lover.
Elaborating on the meaning behind the tune, Rosscoe Frantz says: "‘Raw and Bitter' is a stark, intimate reflection on the parts of love people rarely talk about. The moment when a relationship is strong, the feeling is real, but the future isn’t necessarily aligned. The song explores the tension between deep affection and quiet doubt, where love coexists with confusion, and staying means asking the hardest questions. It’s a song about holding something precious in your hands and not knowing whether to fight for it or let it go."
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Australian cinematic-psychedelic artist Serena Rose shares her new single “Wild One.” Drawing on her background in film scoring and composition, Serena’s music is led by mood and texture rather than conventional narrative, focusing on atmosphere, stillness and emotional detail.
Before launching her solo project in 2021, Serena studied Music and Audio and began working within film and screen composition — an influence that continues to shape her sound. Her recordings favour space and tone over density, combining slow-burn guitar work with restrained arrangements and a strong visual sensibility. Often compared to Mazzy Star, her work also reflects the expansive dynamics of artists such as Radiohead, John Frusciante and All Them Witches.
“Wild One” was written while living in the Byron Bay hinterland of eastern Australia and reflects the physical environment that surrounds her. Built around drifting guitar lines and minimal percussion, the track captures a quiet moment of reflection rather than a traditional song structure, prioritising feeling and place. Serena explains: “For this song I kept seeing the same setting — creeks, wet forest, fog after rain. It’s a calm, solitary space and I feel the music as being inside that landscape rather than describing it.”.
Written in a single burst of inspiration, the recording leans into natural space and restraint. Guitars stretch across the stereo field while subtle rhythmic movement anchors the arrangement, allowing the production to create a sense of physical environment rather than performance. With “Wild One,” Serena Rose continues to develop a sound that sits between psychedelic songwriting and cinematic composition, positioning her as a quietly distinctive voice within Australia’s emerging atmospheric and dream-leaning alternative scene.
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Helsinki-based dreampop duo Eidetic Dreams released their fifth single “Eidetic Dream” yesterday March 20 via All That Plazz. Building steadily from the Nordic indie underground, the band has gained traction through YleX support (including Nosteessa), praise from Soundi, and growing streaming visibility — their previous single “The Truth About My Fall”was featured on Spotify’s Breakthrough 2025 playlist and the global Fresh Finds editorial playlist.
Over the past year, Eidetic Dreams have performed at Finland’s leading showcase festivals, including Lost In Music and Mars Festival, while expanding their live audience beyond Helsinki. The new single further marks the band’s upward trajectory as they move towards their debut album, set for release in 2026.
“Eidetic Dream” is also a defining moment for the duo by name and intent — a song that reflects the band’s core themes of memory, desire and uncertainty, captured in the line: “Was it all a dream, just an eidetic dream?” The track was mastered by two-time Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum mastering engineer Ryan Schwabe. Eidetic Dreams will next perform live at Kult, Kulttuuritalo Helsinki, on March 27 with Tinyhawk & Bizzarro.
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| Photo - Elisha Christian |
Songwriter and podcast host Hrishikesh Hirway releases second single "Rollercoaster" (ft. Uwade, Fenne Lily) from his upcoming record In the Last Hour of Light, due out April 24 on Keeled Scales. The album is his first full-length release under his own name, marking his return to making records after more than a decade focused on audio storytelling through his acclaimed podcast Song Exploder.
“Rollercoaster” is a meditation on longing and displacement, built from two images that lodged themselves in Hirway’s imagination: the buffalo of Catalina Island, brought there by ship in the early 20th century and stranded ever since, and the vision of someone riding a rollercoaster alone. Co-written with Fenne Lily and Uwade, the track finds Hirway placing himself back in Massachusetts, feeling out of place and full of dreams he can’t yet name, asking whether you can miss somewhere you’ve never been. Both Lily and Uwade contribute vocals, as does Ken Pomeroy, their combined voices lifting the song toward a feeling of lightness and air, a counterpoint to the loneliness at its center.
“I started to think of the image of a person riding a rollercoaster on their own,” says Hirway. “It struck me as terribly lonely because of its juxtaposition against a supposedly fun thing, and that juxtaposition felt deeply, painfully familiar.” Hirway has also confirmed the special guests who will join him on a set of upcoming tour dates, including Adam Scott in New York, Jason Mantzoukas in Los Angeles, Samin Nosrat in San Francisco, Josh Malina in Chicago, Min Jin Lee in Boston, and more.
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"I never stopped to think it through / I just got into the car"... Opens "Where to Start" - the first single from Kyle Morgan's upcoming LP Ghost of a Problem and drops us right into the uncertainty of and resignation to a fate largely out of our control. Morgan imbues his characters, even when sung in first person, with a lived in familiarity that reminds me of some the best instincts of John Prine and Tom Waits. The relatively slow back beat builds in an unhurried pace, stopping to luxuriate on the baritone sturdiness of Morgan's main guitar melody. It's a beautiful intro to the record. Would love to hear your thoughts and coordinate coverage of the single or the album out 22 May.
""Where to Start" is an expression of resignation in the face of the uncertainty of life and what the future holds. When your longing for clarity is met with complete silence, but for the whining of tires on mile after mile of an empty highway. And when having come to a dead end, the only choice is to keep driving, hoping this time the road will lead somewhere new."
Sharing new music during times like this feel like a relief. Some kind of tangible proof that the world keeps spinning amidst the ongoing insanity of the first 2 full months of 2026. I am happy to share the newest album by Kyle Morgan - a record that after a single spin feels thoroughly lived in. The first solo follow up after 2022's Younger at Most Everything (Team Love Records) and on the heels of the well-received 2025 collaboration with Tamar Korn ("pitch-perfect acoustic performances" - Bandcamp Daily).
Kyle Morgan's world-weary delivery imbues the characters, missed connections and snaphots of uncertainty with a ghost of a possible optimism - even in the midst of an OCD spiral. Baroque strings, straight-forward rock and sturdy folk are replete Ghost of a Problem - haunting bathrooms, dive bars and close calls that populate this record.
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“Move Mountains,” is the new single by bauhofer from Wollerau, Switzerland. On this track, the singer/songwriter embraces a more melancholic and gospel-inspired tone.
With the EP “The River Seine,” released last autumn, and his distinctive Southern-rock blend of rock, blues, and country, bauhofer achieved international success. The title track reached a top position in the Euro Indie Music Charts—the charts of Europe’s most played and most popular indie music—and was broadcast for weeks by radio stations across Europe, the UK, the USA, and as far as Brazil.
With his latest release, “Move Mountains,” an emotionally charged track, the artist returns to piano and vocals alone. The song expresses the longing for a loved one who is far away, and the determination to overcome all obstacles to reach that person. The single was produced by Slade Templeton (Crimer, Crying Vessel) at Influx Studios in Bern.
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