Alexa Rose - Bird Streets - Terra Lightfoot - Wyldest - WILDES

Photo - Zach Strum

Alexa Rose - Where The Magic Lives.

Asheville’s Alexa Rose has announced a new album ‘Atmosphere’ to be released October 31 on First City Artists. Once praised by NPR as “the soul child of Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton,” Rose returns with a stunning collection dwelling between the shimmering falsetto of Alison Krauss and the supernatural tone of Adrianne Lenker. The album lyrically attends to the symbiosis of joy and grief, terror and hope, heaviness and lightness in our daily lives. 

Regarding Where The Magic Lives Alexa Rose explains, “Have you ever been in some situation you should be enjoying but somehow just can’t? It’s happened to me at the best concerts and under the starriest skies. This song is about fighting to find enchantment again, and making peace with the time that feels lost. I was thinking a lot about growing up in the early aughts, before I always had a phone in my pocket, and how I felt a curiosity about the world that couldn’t be answered with a quick Google search. Sometimes I think leaving a little mystery is what we need to be able to run towards those dreams, to let ourselves bask in a question before we know the answer.”

Alexa Rose recorded her new album at Betty’s, a studio created by Sylvan Esso nestled in the North Carolina woods. Shortly after the session, Hurricane Helene hit the western part of the state, washing away lives and landscapes in the hometowns of half the band. The storm’s wake, eerie and desolate and decisive, cast a new light upon the record. “I related to the music in a different way,” says Rose. “I had just moved into a new place after losing access to my house, and felt a little tossed around the way everyone did. 

The experience deepened my love for my home and my belief in the resilience of the land and communities in Appalachia.” Rose spent the harsh winter to follow revisiting the album and re-recording certain songs in her cabin outside Asheville, replacing studio shimmer with intimate sparsity, a deliberate bareness to better express her feeling at the time. “Stripping the songs down felt truer: nothing to hide behind anymore, but believing the roots are strong enough to hold.”

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Photo - Vivian Wang

Bird Streets - It’s A Start.

Last month, Bird Streets, the alter-ego and musical brainchild of Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Brodeur, announced the forthcoming release of his third LP, The Escape Artist, due October 17, 2025 on Plastic Dreams Records, and share the album’s catchy lead single “Mistaker,” and yesterday, the band came back with another taste of what’s to come, with the brilliant “It’s A Start,” alongside its accompanying music video directed by B.A. Miale.

The album was almost entirely performed by Brodeur and his longtime collaborator, producer Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, Beck, St. Vincent), with contributions from Gina Romantini (Wallflowers, Jayhawks), Zach Jones (Sting) and Oscar Albis Rodriguez (A Great Big World). The Escape Artist was recorded at Jason Falkner’s studio, Rhetoric, in Los Angeles, and additional tracking was completed at Studio G and Brodeur’s home studio in Brooklyn. Bird Streets has also detailed a run of upcoming shows throughout the east coast of the U.S.

Speaking on the song out this week, Brodeur says “This one came to me on a long walk in the California sun. The first verse was a complete thought, and I tried to model the rest of the song around that. It took a long time to get right–I forced myself to finish the lyrics so we could record it, then rewrote and re-recorded most of them a year later. (Sorry Jason!) The music is indebted to later-period Elliott Smith, his more psychedelic work. Figure 8 was a huge influence when I was making my first solo record, and it’s one I come back to a lot because of its range of sounds. My friend Gina Romantini plays violin on this. I love the suspense it creates in the track.

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Photo - Melissa Payne

Terra Lightfoot - Red (feat. Bill Priddle).

Acclaimed JUNO and Polaris Prize-nominated Canadian singer-songwriter Terra Lightfoot has unveiled a haunting and heartfelt new single: a cover of “Red,” originally written and recorded by Canadian alt-rock band Treble Charger. Reimagined through a melancholic folk-rock lens, Lightfoot’s rendition of “Red” highlights her emotive vocal delivery, introspective tone, and a warm, rootsy arrangement that nods to classic country influences.

Lightfoot’s rendition of “Red” also features Treble Charger’s Bill Priddle, who penned the original. Their musical connection stretches back to their time playing together in the band Don Vail, and the idea for this collaboration came to life after a live show in Priddle’s hometown.

“I’ve loved this song since I was a kid, and became friends with Bill Priddle when we were both playing in the band Don Vail,” shares Lightfoot. “We’ve kept in touch and he came out to our show in Sault Ste. Marie last summer. I had the idea to cover this song with him then, and after we sang it together, it made so much sense to cut this one for this record.”

The song’s soft, country-tinged instrumentation was a collaborative effort shaped by Lightfoot and co-producer/husband Jon Auer, who suggested the genre twist and even played drums in a makeshift living room studio. The track also features Annie Lindsay on fiddle, giving the arrangement a tender, Dolly Parton-inspired charm.

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Photo - Tom Gaiger

Wyldest - After The Ending.

Wyldest today announces her new album 'The Universe Is Loading' - out 14th November via Hand In Hive. Alongside the announcement, she releases haunting and euphoric new single 'After The Ending'. Following last month's delicate meditation on familial estrangement ('All It Would Take Is A Phone Call'), new single 'After The Ending' finds Wyldest confronting the fragility of the human body, and exploring love and bonds that transcend space and time, all amidst a haze of celestial indie-rock.

With its nods to simulation theory, ancient medicine, and the quiet terror of losing control, the song was written shortly after Wyldest received an endometriosis diagnosis. Opening with a reference to ‘trephining’ (an ancient practice of drilling holes in the skull to release evil spirits), it continues through sci-fi metaphors before arriving at its pivotal bridge refrain: “I’ll look for you, if you seek me out there too… / In our past lives… I’d wait for you / If the time was on our side, We’re passing tides for the moment…”

Speaking more on the release of the new single, Wyldest said: "'After the Ending' is a post-apocalyptic pop song, about sustaining love from one existence to the next; “The moment, we lost it / so I’ll find you, after the ending”. It was written with space and time in mind - a scenario whereby a relationship can’t exist in the present reality, perhaps due to life circumstances, timing, or something more extreme, like separation by death - and the promise of finding each other in a different existence where they can be there together.

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WILDES - Without a Heart.

London-based singer-songwriter WILDES (Ella Walker) will release her second album 'All We Do Is Feel' on 12th September.
 
Today, she shares her new single 'Without a Heart'. She explains: "Of all the album tracks, this probably took the longest to reach its final form. It wasn’t an easy song to get out. I really struggled to nail the production on it and, in the end, I completely re-produced it, focusing on the intimacy and fragility of the verses and bringing in the vocoder choir to emulate that robotic coldness I was feeling when I originally wrote it. It’s mournful, inevitable, and has a finality to it for me. I knew once I’d written and produced it, a door would be closed on my heartache, and it was such a relief to finally finish it and feel free from that sort of pain. That makes it all worth it".
 
When moments slip through our fingers and no feeling is final, WILDES’ returning album is a monument to the love which remains. 'All We Do Is Feel' marks Ella’s reinvention: a kind of radiance that can only be earned when everything – your life and your art – is razed to the ground and built again in faith to a new vision. The story that unfolds across All We Do Is Feel is one which we all recognise: one of love, heartbreak and renewal. But when we are lost in the arctic-white of emotion, when everything is at its most bitter and unending, WILDES will take you by the hand and walk you out of the storm.
 
Co-produced with her best friend Elena Garcia (Tonguetied), the album was recorded in Garcia’s childhood home, and the music is completely unguarded and fearless in the face of experimentation.

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Home Counties - Ant Thomaz - Kramies - Cherry i

Photo - Luca Bailey

Home Counties - New Best Thing.

Home Counties today release their new single 'New Best Thing', a stomping, synth-laced thrill ride and the latest preview of their eagerly awaited second album 'Humdrum', out 24th October via Submarine Cat Records - produced by Al Doyle (of Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem).

Written in a rare moment of spontaneity, 'New Best Thing' unspools like a strobe-lit meltdown - half blog-era dance-punk, half indie sleaze fever dream. Synths squelch and guitars stab between swung, danceable rhythms, as vocalists Will Harrison and Lois Kelly skewer the kind of brash self-belief that thrives in a world of instant gratification and blurred moral lines. 

Will Harrison explains: “Inspired by the electroclash of Peaches with the Cowboy-guitar blues rock of Alabama 3, we tried to make something that was fun and immediate – something that wouldn’t feel out of place on a PlayStation 2 driving game. Pairing swung drums and obnoxious synths and guitars, it felt sleazy and swaggering.

"This feeling inspired the lyrical content, capturing the overconfidence that comes from consumption and how society either tolerates it or looks down upon it depending on class. Writing the lyrics and music quickly also added to the general immediacy of the song. It was a rare moment of not allowing ourselves to overthink things, which I guess in a way reflects the carelessness of the subject matter.”

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Ant Thomaz - Feet on the Ground.

Ant Thomaz is a Glasgow-based singer-songwriter and musician with roots from the Bayou of southern Louisiana. Drawing from a vibrant mix of folk, soul, pop, zydeco, and rock, his music carries a raw, lived-in warmth shaped by years of self-taught songwriting since the age of twelve. Known for his heartfelt lyrics and a sound that blends grit with soul, Thomaz weaves personal experience into every note, echoing both his Southern heritage and his journey as an artist.

His latest single, “Feet on the Ground,” is a warm, sincere tribute to real love, written with his wife and creative partner, Frances. The track speaks to the importance of presence, and the power of staying grounded through life’s distractions, worries, and external noise. Opening with the lyric “walking through the rain without even a stain, not knowing anyone’s name…”, the song sets the tone for a reflective journey about choosing peace, clarity, and connection over chaos. It’s a reminder that even when the world feels uncertain, love can be an anchor.

Inspired by their late-night conversations as artists, parents, and partners, Thomaz uses the song to explore what it means to grow in love without losing your sense of joy and self. “Feet on the Ground” is also an expression of gratitude for the strong women who inspire him daily, especially Frances, whose impact on his life and artistry is woven through every lyric. At its core, the song urges us to hold on to our youthful spirit, to slow down, and to honour the everyday beauty of life and love, free from ego or comparison.

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Kramies - Hollywood Signs.

As the summer scurry fades and autumn winds drift eastward, the days grow shorter, the lights dimmer - Kramies makes his timely return. And “Hollywood Signs”, the lead single from an upcoming new LP, is a clear departure in sound for the cult Ohio songwriter. 

Three years after his critically acclaimed self-titled LP—which earned multiple Album of the Year accolades and saw Billboard christen him “The Dreampop Troubadour” - in 2025 Kramies begins anew and turns the page to his next chapter with its follow-up.

Operating in a genre of his own devising that he dubbed Folklore Dreampop - a blend of dreamy textures, poetic myth, and spectral beauty - his self-titled debut offered a collection of songs steeped in wonder that found the singer-songwriter drifting deeply through a series of otherworldly realms. But for his next act, Kramies marks a creative shift from any former labellings with the decisively titled new album: ‘Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour’. 

Seeking to expand his creative world into new dimensions, his upcoming work finds him collaborating with Grammy-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie / Prince) to conjure dusky soundscapes shaded with nighttime colors and a nostalgic melancholia. Unlike previous releases that have been scattered with the stardust of luminaries such Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Patrick Carney (Black Keys), Alma Forrer, Jerry Becker (Train) and more, his new album is a stridently confident solo creation, with Kramies playing 90% of the instruments across the album. 

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Photo - Zosia Kibalo

Cherry i -The Arsonist.

London outfit Cherry i emerge today with their unsettling and cinematic new single ‘The Arsonist’, produced by Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Youth Lagoon, Soccer Mommy). A slow-creeping art-rock dirge that draws from myth and modern conflict, the single reframes harrowing events through a cryptic, surrealist lens: a divine arsonist trapped inside a dog, prowling the streets of Kyiv.

Built on detuned guitars and submerged percussion, ‘The Arsonist’ drifts through the liminal space between The Smile’s unsettling surrealism and King Krule’s shadowy melancholy, with glints of Portishead’s brooding atmosphere and Beth Gibbons’ fragile intensity. The result is vivid and enigmatic - anchored by singer Nikol’s spectral delivery, her voice carrying a distinctive, quivering lilt that shifts between whisper and lament.

On the release of 'The Arsonist' Nikol said: “The lyrics came out of a very tough time. I wanted to take a fairy tale or Greek myth-style approach to something too difficult to look at head-on. Some of our band members are Ukrainian refugees, so the song became a way to process those feelings, by creating distance without losing the truth. It revolves around themes of processing the trauma of war, displacement and loss. The lyrics themselves take on a more vague approach consisting of a fairytale-like reimagining of events wherein The Arsonist is this Greek god type destructive force, trapped inside a dog wreaking havoc on the streets of Kyiv."

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Alexei Shishkin - Eve Goodman + SERA - The Zac Schulze Gang - This Machine Kills Archons

Alexei Shishkin - Ode to Carl Dennis.

Inspired by the work of the titular poet, “Ode to Carl Dennis” is the third single from ‘Good Times,’ Alexei Shishkin’s eleventh full-length album. Once described as “restless lo-fi chameleon” (or as the artist himself puts it, “a label’s worst nightmare”), Shishkin is highly prolific across multiple fields, relishing the freedom of being a “hobbyist.” In 2024 alone, Shishkin released his debut feature documentary ‘Play By Ear’ (featuring Built to Spill, Pictoria Vark, Magic Sword and The Shivas), as well as three distinct records.

On September 5th’s ‘Good Times,’ he again challenged himself by venturing out to Big Nice Studio in Lincoln, Rhode Island, without a plan. In a four-day session with producer Bradford Krieger, Shishkin created the album from scratch. The result is a unique amalgamation of Americana, Jazz, and Slacker Rock, which Shishkin calls “a collage of spur-of-the-moment inspiration,” and an “escape from reality.” ‘Good Times’ will be released on September 5th via the Rue Defense label. 

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Eve Goodman + SERA - Cwlwm Cariad.

Continuing with their nature-inspired theme, Cwlwm Cariad refers to a type of moth, the ‘True Lover’s Knot’ in English. This is the second in a run of singles by singer-songwriters Eve Goodman and SERA from their upcoming collaborative album, Natur, due for release in the Autumn of 2025. It follows their first single Blodyn Gwyllt which was released in July.

Where Blodyn Gwyllt was a celebration of freedom and the summer, Cwlwm Cariad is quite different. There are no guitars and percussion here, only one piano and 2 live voices almost until the end. It is delicate and it sings of the peril often tied up in the complexities of love and relationships, the passion, the self-destruction and flying too close to the flame. The delicate moth and the human heart connected in this way.

The track was recorded on an upright piano and the duo’s voices weave together in harmony once again.  Recorded at Wild End Studio near Llanrwst, North Wales, with co-producer Colin Bass. (member of Camel and also producer of the Tincian album from 9 Bach which won ‘Best Album’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award in 2015)

Eve Goodman and SERA began working together after they were selected as BBC Horizons Artists in 2019. Both folk singer-songwriters, with rising solo careers and both had grown up in Caernarfon. Being part of Horizons brought them together and after just one writing session they found common ground in their connection to and curiosity around nature. 

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The Zac Schulze Gang - High Roller.

Formed in Gillingham (south-east UK) in 2020, The Zac Schulze Gang are an electrifying blues-rock trio built on the playing of front man Zac Schulze, joined by bassist Ant Greenwell and drummer Ben Schulze. ​​​​​The gang create their signature sound by blending rock and blues with influences from punk, funk, country, jazz, soul, metal and pop.
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After earning a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the country, they are now touring internationally across the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe and America. They have toured and shared the bill with artists such as Samantha Fish, Jesse Dayton, Eddie 9V, Nine Below Zero, Aynsley Lister, Band of Friends and The Cinelli Brothers.

The gang have won multiple awards including the UK Blues Emerging Band of the Year award for 2024 and Young Artist of the Year 2025. They were also invited to play at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival 2023 in Los Angeles and made an appearance at Fairport's Cropredy Convention in 2024 to large acclaim.​​ In 2025 the band headlined the Rory Gallagher Tribute Festival in Ballyshannon as well as the Broadstairs Blues Bash.
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With a debut studio album on the horizon in 2025, the Zac Schulze Gang are setting up to be a future powerhouse of their genre.

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This Machine Kills Archons - Future Shocked / Day Revelation (EP).

This is a UK-based psychedelic indie-rock project founded by singer-songwriter R.P. Warrington in 2020. With lush, genre-blending sounds likened to “Beach Boys meets Big Star,” “Bolanesque” and “Crooning Beatlesy”. One radio station called it “mellow rock 'n' roll road music”. Joined by a rotating cast of acclaimed collaborators, This Machine Kills Archons has released three critically received EPs showcasing a unique blend of retro flair and modern insight.

A new EP ‘Day Revelation’ released today 18 August 2025 on all platforms has songs that warn of a future godless and controlling society where nothing is permanent. The lead track is Future Shocked – the EP also includes the songs System of Moods, Don’t Play God and Deaf Tombs.

This Machine Kills Archons is the moniker of singer/songwriter R.P. Warrington. Based in the UK. They have previously released three critically received EPs showcasing a unique blend of retro flair and modern insight. They have had radio airplay and positive feedback from radio DJ’s and music reviewers from across England, Australia, Europe, America and Canada.  



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Talking Violet - The Happy Fits - Pam Ross - Aliza Hava

Photo - Lourdes Lasala

Talking Violet - In Your Mind.

Talking Violet seamlessly melds shoegaze, grunge, and dream-pop into a genre-defiant wave they’ve coined “dreamo”—a sound that’s as lush as it is emotionally piercing. The Windsor, ON four-piece, formed of Jillian Goyeau (vocals, guitar), Jayden Turnbull (guitar, vocals), Jeremie Brousseau (drums), and Dylan Iannicello (bass), craft a powerful sound, touching on themes that wrestle with the grief of personal change, especially in relationships.

Now, the band returns with their latest single “In Your Mind,” a sonically thick and upbeat track that calls for a darker, more emotional setting. Beneath its glistening layers lies a vulnerable reflection on the helplessness of loving someone through pain and uncertainty. “I've had to learn over time that no matter how much you want to help people, so often it's really out of your hands,” shares Goyeau. “They have to be the ones to figure things out, but you can do what you can from a supporting line.” The song’s haunting hook—“I wonder if I echo in your mind?”—speaks to that aching desire to be remembered and felt, even when distance or silence takes hold.

Produced and mixed by Justin Meli (Universal Canada) and mastered by Will Yip (Turnstile, Lauryn Hill, Panic! At The Disco), “In Your Mind” continues the emotional thread of their recent album Everything At Once, drawing from the grief of interpersonal change. “These tracks draw on a lot of grief of change, most specifically, the grief of relationship changes in our lives,” Goyeau explains. “I was going through changes that I now see as necessary but were incredibly painful at the time. It made me realize how much I had depended on my relationships with others for my identity. I had to slowly relearn who I was—and spent the next few years healing my people-pleasing baseline. It’s still something I work on every day.” 

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Photo - Anna Koblish

The Happy Fits - Do You See Me?

Indie/rock darlings The Happy Fits have just released their brand new single “Do You See Me?,” accompanied by an official video, off their forthcoming album Lovesick, due out September 19th. The track follows their previous single “Wild In Love,” which the band recently performed live for the first time during their national television debut on CBS Saturday Morning along with “Everything You Do” and “Cruel Power.”

With their sonic rebirth on full display, “Do You See Me?” builds from a lo-fi whisper to an orchestral roar on the brooding album opener. Like much of the new record, the song contemplates longing and desire, coming to terms with the inherent selfishness of love, and our bottomless need for acceptance and approval.

“We shot the music video with Jacqueline Justice on a dry hot day in LA,” stated frontman/cellist Calvin Langman. “We’d only loosely shared this idea of an ethereal, reflective world to match the dreaminess of the song and Jacq took it from there. She built a story about longing, searching, and the way memories linger all while literally building the reflective surfaces herself. In every shot with that mirrored structure, you’ll see a pair of silver hands holding it. That’s Lucky Kilmarten. He’d just flown in from the UK the night before to help Jacq. He stood with us outside all day, never complained once, and we’re really sorry about his sunburn.”

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Pam Ross - Crazy Ride.

Country-Americana singer-songwriter Pam Ross invites listeners to slow down and soak in the moment with her easygoing new single, “Crazy Ride”, which arrived yesterday August 15 on all major streaming platforms. Guided by a warm, unhurried groove and Ross’ signature heartfelt delivery, “Crazy Ride” is a love song for real life — the kind that embraces messy hair, late starts, and unexpected detours with a smile. The track draws inspiration from a candid morning with her wife, Elissa, when a whirlwind of small mishaps became the spark for a song about finding beauty in life’s chaos.

“It was around 8:30 in the morning,” Ross recalls. “I was getting ready to work out, and my wife was rushing to get to work. Her curly hair was everywhere, and she said it was going to be a crazy day and that I should write a song about it. I laughed it off at first, but later that day I wrote ‘Crazy Ride.’ It’s about those moments when everything feels out of control, but later you look back and laugh. Those times make life beautiful — and I wouldn’t want to go through them with anyone else.”

From playful verses about off-road adventures gone awry to a chorus that feels like a deep exhale, “Crazy Ride” captures the rhythm of a relationship that knows how to roll with the punches. The easy, swaying instrumentation and Ross’ warm vocals make it as perfect for a back porch sunset as it is for a Sunday drive.

Pam Ross has earned a loyal following for her relatable storytelling and ability to turn life’s small moments into memorable songs. With “Crazy Ride,” she leans into a breezier side of her sound, offering listeners a feel-good track that’s as much about gratitude as it is about love.

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Aliza Hava - Let It Roar.

Aliza Hava, who is currently splitting her time between New Orleans, Nashville and Ashland, Oregon, released the single "Let It Roar" a couple of weeks back. "Let It Roar" will appear on the album Into the Light, set for release on Sept 9.
 
Into the Light follows the 2021 single "Radiant Light" and the 2020 album Natural State. Previously released singles from Into the Light have received enough airplay to secure Aliza chart positions via The Roots Music Report, where she is currently #2 on the Top 50 Folk Rock album chart.
 
Into the Light is a thematic folk-rock album that takes listeners on a profound, transformative journey from trauma to triumph. With powerfully cathartic melodies and thought-provoking anthems that transform pain into power, each song is a step on the roadmap to self-inquiry, navigating the way through a dark night of the soul while finding peace in self-love.
 
Produced by multi-platinum Grammy® winner Mikal Blue (Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz), the album features a world-class lineup of musicians, including bassist Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket and legendary drummer Gregg Bissonette. 

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