Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Eileen Carey - Brògeal - The Cords

Eileen Carey - Carry Me Away.

Eileen Carey's brand new single "Carry Me Away" is all about finding that special place to get away and be in the magic of living in the moment. The seductive upbeat pop-country song also narrates finding a space to make those important changes needed in life.

Eileen Carey is an award-winning country-pop singer-songwriter based in Altadena, California. Known for her infectious optimism and genre-blending sound, Carey has become a standout figure in the independent music scene, earning accolades such as the New Music Awards’ AC/Hot AC Breakthrough Artist of 2025 and the Independent Music Network’s Entertainer of the Year in 2025.

Her music, described as “West Coast Pop-Country”, is upbeat, accessible, and emotionally resonant. Carey’s singles like “Land with You” and “Good Bad Girl” have topped radio charts and earned praise for their empowering messages and danceable melodies1.

A dynamic live performer, Carey has shared stages with legends including Don McLean, Rita Coolidge, Jefferson Starship, and The Motels, captivating audiences with her “Gretchen Wilson-meets-Miranda Lambert” stage presence. Her shows are known for turning passive listeners into active participants, with line dancing, singalongs, and standing ovations. 


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Brògeal - Go Home Tae Yer Bed.

This week Brògeal release their new single "Go Home Tae Yer Bed" ahead of their debut album. "Go Home Tae Yer Bed" is Scottish band Brògeal's most personal release yet. 

“Been sitting on this tune for a year or two, again not knowing what to do with it. The boys done a really good job adding their instruments to it, as I’d honestly no direction to go in", says Aidan Callaghan. "This song deals with grief, and that’s all I’ll say.” 

Featuring a stunning Gaelic translation and vocals from Lewis’s Josie Duncan, it’s a raw, moving departure from their usual sound—the band's debut album Tuesday Paper Club will be out on October 17.



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The Cords - I'm Not Sad.

The second single by fantastic young sibling-duo, The Cords, has been released today. It's short, sweet, upbeat… the perfect pop song for a heatwave summer! The Cords' debut album, is scheduled for release on September 26th.

The Cords are the brightest new indiepop band from Scotland.  Comprising sisters Eva and Grace Tedeschi, they started playing drums when they were little kids.  They found that they liked 80s and 90s indie music more than their peers did, and so formed a band, just the two of them, with Grace on drums and Eva on guitar – and the songs started to flow.

With only a cassette and a flexi single released so far (both of which sold out in a matter of hours), Eva and Grace honed their skills by playing a whole series of gigs with some of the biggest names in Scottish pop.  Their first show was with The Vaselines, and since then they have played with Camera Obscura, Belle and Sebastian, BMX Bandits and others, while also sharing stages with the new generation of indiepop stars: the Umbrellas, Chime School, Lightheaded.  They are embraced by established stars and adored by their contemporaries.

The Cords were invited to record a session for Riley and Coe on 6 Music on the back of their early releases, and have now recorded their eagerly-awaited debut album, which will be co-released by Skep Wax (in the UK and Europe) and Slumberland Records (in America).  Like all great pop bands, The Cords have taken familiar ingredients and created something utterly fresh.  Older indie fans will hear echoes of The Shop Assistants, The Primitives, Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh, but they will hear something else too: a yearning, dreamy melodic power that takes the songs into darker, stranger places. 



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Monday, 11 August 2025

Midnight Sky - The Grahams - Ashley Monroe

Midnight Sky - Just Before Dawn (Album).

Americana rockers Midnight Sky have officially released their highly-anticipated full-length album, Just Before Dawn, on all major streaming platforms via MTS Records. Anchored by the evocative new single “Hearts Are Wild,” the 13-track collection is a cinematic and soul-stirring exploration of love’s complexity, highway solitude, and the quiet moments that linger just before dawn.

Led by veteran songwriter Tim Tye, Midnight Sky weaves threads of country, folk, and roots rock into a cohesive and emotionally resonant album that showcases Tye’s evolution as a storyteller and sonic craftsman. From the haunting melancholy of “Only the Moon is Blue” to the rollicking redemption in “Dockside Jump,” the LP traverses backroads of memory and emotion with unflinching honesty.

“This album is about moments—ones you regret, ones you fight for, and ones you never forget,” says Tye. “Just Before Dawn is where all those moments live. That quiet hour when the world holds its breath and your heart does too.”


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Photo - Julian Gross
The Grahams - Only New York.

Acclaimed Americana-pop duo The Grahams have announced their fourth studio album, The Bridge, will be out this fall and have released their new single “Only New York.” The powerful track pays homage to a city The Grahams, lifelong lovers Alyssa and Doug Graham call part of their heartbeat and one of the main characters in their life. Their personal and unique tribute to the Big Apple. Set for release on October 10th via the East Nashville label 3Sirens, The Bridge, referring to the George Washington Bridge which transported the New Jersey natives to New York City during their formative years, is the group’s most deeply personal album to date.

“New York City was, is, and will always be a defining piece of who we are,” shares Alyssa. “As kids, we lived across the bridge. NYC was the backdrop for all our minor indiscretions, all our not so minor rebellions. She taught us how to be smart, creative, open-minded, and sometimes devious. As adults, we lived deep within her pulsing heart. We performed music over and over again within her underground. We learned to love her and to loathe her as New York is at once the best and the worst of everything.”

“Our daughter was born a New Yorker,” Doug adds. “When we were writing this song, we realized every bridge in our life, both literally and metaphorically, leads back to New York City. Our forever home. This track is without a doubt the defining song of our life, our love affair, and our legacy, because only New York.”

For perhaps the first time since the inception of The Grahams over a decade ago, Alyssa and Doug give listeners an honest glimpse into their personal lives within their music on The Bridge. The 11-track collection, which finds the couple embracing the collaborative Nashville co-write, is inspired by their everyday lives. The Grahams wrote much of The Bridge with GRAMMY-nominated producer Dex Green, singer-songwriter Kate York, and GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan. Alyssa (vocals) and Doug (guitars/vocals) credit these three creative ambassadors with helping them write about their lives honestly and vulnerably, diving deep into their childhood love affair that has lasted over 37 years.


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Photo - Erika Rock
Ashley Monroe - Tennessee Lightning (Album).

On Friday, 3x GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Ashley Monroe released her sixth studio album Tennessee Lightning. Co-produced with GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer Gena Johnson (John Prine, Jason Isbell), the 17-song collection was recorded in the wake of Monroe’s transformative bout with cancer and recounts her remarkable journey as a celebration of life, love and the healing power of music. The album features contributions from T Bone Burnett, Marty Stuart, Brittney Spencer, Waylon Payne, Brendan Benson, Butch Walker, Karen Fairchild and Armand Hutton. 

Tennessee Lightning has received acclaim from The Nashville Scene, People, Stereogum, NPR Music, Music Row, The Observer, Americana UK and many more. No Depression proclaimed its “an electrifying new album that traverses a variety of musical landscapes, from swampy blues to gospel to pop and country.” 

The album is rich, multifaceted meditation on identity, purpose, and meaning from an artist who’s learned to see herself — and the world around her — in a whole new light following a life-altering diagnosis. “When I got diagnosed with lymphoma and started my treatment, I stopped writing, I stopped hearing melodies, I stopped thinking about songs at all,” Monroe recalls. 

“When I finally went into remission, I could feel the life and the music start flowing in my veins again,” she explains. “It was like a flood, just this rush of inspiration.” Along with that inspiration came a newfound clarity and gratitude, as well as a vision for this new album.



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Sunday, 10 August 2025

ena mori - Pete Muller - Tamar Berk

Photo - Ennuh Tiu
ena mori - Portion Control.

Genre-defying Filipino-Japanese indie/art-pop artist ena mori has just released a new EP 'rOe.' To mark the EP release, ena today releases the video for focus single 'Portion Control'.

Characterised by a relentless pursuit of innovation, new EP 'rOe' is an six-track project that finds ena mori revisiting her childhood, and how it shaped her moral and emotional compass as an adult. Featuring previously released singles 'Trust Me', 'Heartache Generation' and 'Sink' - the EP is a reinterpretation of the memories of her early years with the perspective she carries right now.

“rOe isn’t about making grand statements. It’s more about being present in the process—figuring things out in real time. It's that feeling of being in your 20s, still feeling like a child when you're expected to have it all together. I may not have the perfect words to describe it yet, but somehow, in this moment, it makes sense to me," ena mori said.

A coming-of-age project but not in a traditional sense, 'rOe' navigates the emotional whiplash of entering your twenties with one foot still planted in childhood. To sum it up, it’s about the paradox of forward motion while feeling stuck.


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Photo - Shervin Lainez
Pete Muller - Dream Small.

Pianist and singer-songwriter Pete Muller has shared his new single “Dream Small” via Two Truths Music. An ode to finding happiness through a shift in perspective, this uplifting song arrives with a colorful stop-motion music video directed by Stefano Bertelli (Pink Floyd, Eminem, Amy Lee).

Muller on the new song: “So many people who have a lot continue to want more and more. ‘Dream Small’ is about a celebrity who finds that her path to happiness lies within — in the smaller things. The stop animation video was created by a wonderful studio in Italy called Seen Film.”

Bertelli on directing the visual: “When I first listened to ‘Dream Small,’ I focused especially on the lyrics, and one line really stood out to me — the one about the star on the Walk of Fame. I imagined a visual analogy between the star and the shape of a broken car wheel rim coming loose and rolling away. This contrast — between a symbol of success and something ordinary, even broken — immediately inspired the opening scene of the video: a wheel rim detaching from a car and beginning its own journey.”

“Dream Small” follows Muller’s critically acclaimed album More Time, released last year. After achieving success in quantitative finance, Muller found himself yearning to fulfill his creative urges. “I have these two sides,” Muller explains. “One part of me is a very practical, analytical thinker, and the other’s this creative artist who can’t help but express what’s going on in his soul. For a long time, I thought I had to choose between the two, but I’ve realized that I can love and nourish both sides of myself, that it’s and not or.”

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Tamar Berk - stay close by.

Acclaimed indie power-pop artist Tamar Berk shares “stay close by,” the shimmering and emotionally charged lead single from her upcoming album ocd, out on September 5th on all music platforms. Although it opens the album, “stay close by” was actually the final song Tamar wrote. It was an impulsive, late-night effort to create the perfect introduction that would pull listeners in while hinting at the emotional spirals that lie ahead.

The result is a lush, unexpected mix of distortion, loopy rhythms, and aching vocals that reflect the tension of longing for connection while trying to protect your heart. Berk blends gauzy guitars with a retro, low-end Big Muff fuzz and layered synth textures, creating a sound that feels both melancholy and warm. Lyrically, the song captures that in-between space of dreaming and doing. It lingers in those tender, half-serious plans we make with someone close, like the refrain: “we always say we should get high… and go for a ride.”

“I wanted the first track and single to feel a little mysterious, a little off-center,” Tamar says. “Something that sounds familiar but also surprises you and makes you curious about what’s coming next.”

With ocd, Tamar explores themes of anxiety, repetition, and the constant struggle to stay in control of our emotions. It's an album shaped by spirals of thought, fear, and memory. “stay close by” acts as both an invitation and a mission statement, setting the tone for everything that follows.

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Saturday, 9 August 2025

Kitchen Lover - Haerts - Lavendine - Plain Mister Smith

Photo - Haydn Gwyn
Kitchen Lover - There Goes My Brains.

Brighton-based punk risers Kitchen Lover release the new single 'There Goes My Brains', ahead of the anticipated upcoming debut album, The Circus Sideshow Dream (due out September 19th).

Produced by Erik Miles (known for his work with SOFT PLAY, Baby Dave, Kate Nash), ‘There Goes My Brains’ highlights the band’s quirky, playful yet intense and driving punk aesthetic. The tracks grungy, fuzzy, garage rock guitar tones comparable to Queens Of The Stone Age, contrasts against a more loose and urgent delivery that harks back to classic 70s punk, resulting in a short and punchy, sub 2 minute fizzer. 

Speaking about the single, the band explain: “Cut from the same cloth as the man with the darkest heart, this boy can’t comprehend why his part time-lover won’t comply with his late night booty calls. The type we’ve all been victim of and probably perpetrator of too. The desperate little boy, completely unaware of his feelings, can only scream in despair and anger as his mind overloads with insecurity.” 

With support across the likes of Punk News, Earmilk, Notion, The Punk Site, Psychedelic Baby Magazine and New Noise as well as landing Amazing Radio’s A-list and heavy radio rotation across Europe and the US, the band have quickly established themselves as one to watch as they build towards the release of the album. The upcoming album ‘The Circus Sideshow Dream’ is due September 19th with Erik Miles not only producing the album but also contributing bass, organ, keys, and guitar throughout the record.  


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Haerts - The Lie.

This week, indie duo Haerts release “The Lie,” the second single from their upcoming album Laguna Road, alongside an evocative new video directed by longtime collaborator Julian Klincewicz (Beyoncé, Virgil Abloh, Tame Impala, etc.).

“The Lie” is an ode to bandmates and life partners Nini Fabi and Benny Gebert’s youth — a memory of young love — its freedom, its weight, and its strange wisdom. “It’s about the dreams and the pain that brought us together,” says Fabi, “the same forces that at times tore us apart.” Klincewicz’s video strips the visual down to raw emotion.

Julian Klincewicz adds about his creative partnership with Haerts: "Working with Haerts has been my longest running music collaboration, and one that always reinvents itself naturally - whenever I hear a new song, whatever direction it pulls, I always feel something deeply personal that inspires something visual, and there's always a two way understanding between Nini & benny. Sometimes it's a simple as a portrait - slowed down to feel every nuance of emotion. Sometimes it's like pulling a thread. With this video - the song strikes some deep personal chord, and there's a nakedness - uncovering one's emotions, just like taking off make up in the mirror."


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Lavendine - Who Cares If I’m Alone.

Pop-rock duo Lavendine made up of sisters Jacy and Jana Ayers released their most commanding single yet yesterday, “Who Cares If I’m Alone,” is accompanied by a visually stunning lyric video. This isn’t just a song, it’s a reckoning. Born from betrayal and forged on grit, the track is a defiant stand against dependence, silence, and settling for less.

Crafted with Grammy-nominated Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Stevie Nicks) behind the production and mixing, and vocal production by Ed Seay (Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Blake Shelton), Lavendine rips the curtain back on isolation—and turns it into a war cry. Because sometimes, the strongest, bravest move you can make…is walking away.

“We’re beyond grateful that Mark Needham got his hands on this song,” Lavendine shares. “It had been sitting in our archives for a while, but we knew it was something special—and Mark brought it to life in a way only he could. He tracked, produced, and mixed the song himself, giving it the gritty, unapologetic rock edge it always needed. This track is one of our personal favorites because it captures the essence of our journey—the pursuit of our calling, even if it means walking the road alone. It also showcases the rock-infused sound we’re passionate about and plan to dive even deeper into moving forward.”

Lavendine continues “When we were writing this song, we were in a lonely place after so many hurdles and disappointments. But somehow, it birthed a knowing—that we weren’t going to stop, even if it was just her and I standing at the finish line of our calling and destiny. We realized we didn’t need a crowd. We just needed peace. Even if that meant being alone.”

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Plain Mister Smith - Miss Sunshine.

After a stretch of creative “bunkerdom,” Vancouver-based musical wanderer Plain Mister Smith emerges with “Miss Sunshine”, the first in a series of new singles leading to a full-length album set for a 2026 release.

Out now across music platforms, “Miss Sunshine” channels the quirky charm of Tame Impala and Pulp while nodding to the emotional precision of The Smiths and Howard Devoto. The track captures a bittersweet sentiment familiar to many: the heartbreak of watching the kindest, sunniest soul you know get taken advantage of and wishing you could help them see their worth.

Shimmering with a buoyant blend of psych-pop textures and breezy acoustic charm, “Miss Sunshine” by Plain Mister Smith beams with radiant optimism. With John Raham (Destroyer, Frazey Ford) on drums, Plain Mister Smith handling all other instrumentation, and a mix by Chris Perry, “Miss Sunshine” is a lush, kinetic ride through swirling strings, jangly guitars, and melodic twists. 

Built on a lilting guitar riff and dreamy melodic layers, the track evokes the golden glow of a late summer afternoon, spinning tales of hope and renewal with effortless warmth. Plain Mister Smith’s gentle vocals float through a rich sonic landscape, where vintage flair meets modern sensibility, offering listeners a sweet dose of lightness after a period of creative intensity. As the first of a string of new singles, “Miss Sunshine” signals a vibrant reawakening for the artist and invites the world to step into the sun alongside him.

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Zarema (David Alexander Remix) - Ker - Big Stir Records (Various) - Palindrones - Too Hot for Leather - Dwight + Nicole

Zarema ( David Alexander Remix) - Closure. LA-based singer-songwriter Zarema unveils a powerful new chapter with her emotionally resonant...