Maple Mars - Tullycraft - Rachael Sage & The Sequins - Kashena Sampson

Maple Mars - Couldn't Have Been A Better Time / Tidal Wave.

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of LA pop-psych titans Maple Mars, Big Stir Records have just released an all new two track single from the band: “Couldn't Have Been A Better Time” and “Tidal Wave”, a one-two punch demonstrating both the power and the pop that have made them longtime favorites onstage and on record. 

It seems impossible that it's been a quarter of a century since Maple Mars rose from the ashes of front man Rick Hromadka's beloved '90s outfit Double Naught Spies, and the new songs presented here are as full of youthful rock and roll energy as ever. But it's a reality worth celebrating, and the current lineup of the band Hromadka on vocals and guitar, Steve Berns on guitar and vocals, longtime drummer Ron Pak and returning bassist Jeff Legore do so in their customary bracing rock style. 

The songs presented here display the band at the absolute top of their game, too. The A-side “Couldn't Have Been A Better Time” is a pure guitar-pop delight, with soaring hooks and a sense of palpable joy permeating the performance. The title telegraphs a look back at the band's history, but there's more going on here, however coy Hromadka may be about it. “I gave away too much personal info about some of the songs on the last Maple Mars album,” he says of the personal journey detailed in music on Someone's Got To Listen. “Gonna keep this one a secret. Although listeners can probably figure out that it's about someone special in my life.” The song simply radiates warmth, and the blend of trippy touches and Beach Boys like glee are pure Maple Mars.


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Tullycraft - Tarrytown / Love On the Left Bank.

Seattle, Washington's own indie pop pioneers Tullycraft are back with two new singles "Tarrytown" & "Love On the Left Bank" off their new album Shoot the Point out now on HHBTM Records. 

Over the years, Tullycraft has penned a handful of songs that practically define the twee movement in America. The chorus "fuck me, I'm twee" was the refrain that launched a thousand t-shirts. “The Punks Are Writing Love Songs” introduced bratty punk to hummingbird twee. "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend’s Too Stupid to Know About" encapsulated an entire music scene in a single song. 

And yet despite this, for most, the band exists somewhere near the edges of obscurity. Occasionally, they receive a nod (like when their album 'Old Traditions, New Standards' was featured on Pitchfork's list of the 25 Best Indie Pop Albums of the ’90s) but these spotlights don’t tend to happen as frequently as one might think.

While the mainstream has largely ignored Tullycraft, their status in the indie pop underground is undeniable. Formed in Seattle in 1995, they are considered to be one of the bona fide pioneers of the American twee pop movement. Touring relentlessly during the last gasp of the truly independent indie-underground, they influenced countless young bands. They were once called “the Johnny Appleseed of Indie Pop — making their way across the country, leaving new bands, zines, and record labels to sprout up in their wake."


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Photo - Anna Azarov

Rachael Sage & The Sequins - The Best Version.

Beloved folk-pop singer-songwriter Rachael Sage and her longtime band The Sequins have released their uplifting new single and video “The Best Version” alongside the announcement of their new studio album Canopy, out October 24 via MPress Records. Standing as Sage’s most soulful and thought-provoking work to date, Canopy confidently spans Americana, pop, and neo-folk while exploring themes of living a purposeful and joyful life rooted in inclusiveness and equality. The new single is a lyrical, piano-pop confession that grapples with social media surrealism and imagines a blissful, unplugged state of being.

“‘The Best Version’ is a pretty different flavor musically from the rest of the album,” shares Sage on the new single. “Over the last few years, I’ve witnessed more and more people throwing up their hands and feeling so continually misunderstood on social media that they’ve had to go on ‘social media fasts’ just to feel sane. 

This gave me the idea of imagining a sort of blissful, off-the-grid state of being where you might gaze into a night-sky, imagine your soulmate(s) living in other parts of the world, and feel simultaneously tiny and huge. In these chaotic times, I personally find a lot of solace knowing from being on tour that I have kindred spirits in many places now and this song expresses the gist of why I love touring so much. I think this is among the most hopeful tracks on the record and we worked really hard to reflect the hopeful, expansive feeling of the lyrics in the string arrangement.”

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Photo - Jon Karr 

Kashena Sampson - Ghost Of Me.

Nashville-based powerhouse Kashena Sampson has unveiled the title track of her forthcoming LP, Ghost Of Me, out on October 3. Kashena tells us “Besides being a musician, I have also been a bartender at a music venue for the past 10 years to pay my bills. It’s a great job, but there are some nights that feel like my heart is breaking,” Sampson told Chorus.fm. “Watching others live out the exact dream I’m still chasing, night after night. Having to put a smile on my face and serve industry people who’ve passed on me can be rough, and I can get real down on myself about it sometimes. 

‘Ghost Of Me’ is about those moments. The times when I question my worth, and the internal struggle of not being where I would like to be in my music career,” she added. “It’s about not giving up on my dreams even though at times it feels like it’s killing me.”

“Stuck in the same place, same routine,” she sings, before a swell of gorgeous, nocturnal noise, full of swooning keyboards and atmospheric guitars, like a long-lost Roy Orbison classic reborn for a film noir soundtrack. “Ghost Of Me” follows lead single, “Rearview Mirror,” a song born of intuition and shadow work, a spiritual shake-up designed to clear the path for truth. 

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heddlu - Peech. - Ezra Bell - Katy Guillen & The Drive

heddlu - Tramor (Album).

The Welsh Electronic / Indie Artist 'heddlu' released his new album 'Tramor' via Zawn Records a couple of days ago. Beehive Candy have already featured three great tracks from the album and are really pleased to share the full album now. As a reminder heddlu is the new musical project by Rhodri Daniel. The Ceredigion native was a founding member of renowned Welsh band Estrons who had a major impact on the industry.

 After finishing the band in 2019, Rhodri became aware that his hearing was severely damaged. Years of touring the live circuit had taken their toll, Rhodri ultimately being diagnosed with hearing loss, tinnitus and severe sensitivity to noise. The effects were so acute, Rhodri was unable to play live music, leading to him composing his critically acclaimed debut album (Cantref, 2022) in his head whilst completing the entirety of the Wales Coastal Path (900 miles). His family and namely his sister, were great sources of comfort and hope during this difficult period. Serendipity led Rhodri back to music, and heddlu was born. Meaning ‘Police’ in Welsh, from the words ‘peace-force’, heddlu's music has been true to its’ name, offering a force of peace to the songwriter.

Rhodri spent the next few years writing and experimenting with new sounds and instruments as his hearing slowly recovered. Whilst writing and recording his 2nd album, life found a way of both disrupting and influencing the creative process, leading to multiple re-writes and an entire album being erased. Eventually, despite the interruptions, heddlu’s 2nd album, ‘Tramor’ - was completed. Meaning ‘Overseas’ in Welsh, ‘Tramor’ is series of intimate and volatile songs, detailing years of loss, estrangement, trauma and hope.

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Peech. - Going West / Tomorrows.

Rising country-folk artist Peech. released his debut EP, Small Town America, yesterday via CCMG/TAMLA. The six-song collection captures the warmth, ache, and transformation of leaving behind everything familiar in pursuit of something greater. Beehive Candy feature two songs from the EP Going West and Tomorrows.
 
Since his breakout single, “Don't Miss Your Moment,” Peech. has been spotlighted by CMT, the Academy of Country Music, All Country News, Fandom Daily, Sweety High, and Earmilk, earning praise as “a voice worth listening to.” Building on that momentum, Small Town America blends vivid lyricism and intimate vocals into stories of growth, nostalgia, and chasing the unknown.
 
“It's about moving forward, letting go of hardships while holding onto the warmth of home, missing the moments that shaped you, yet embracing the thrill of the unknown,” says Peech.
 
With growing support from media and industry tastemakers alike, Peech. is poised for a breakout moment. Small Town America marks the beginning of a larger narrative—one that promises depth, honesty, and a whole lot of heart.


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Photo - JCPenney

Ezra Bell - let me in.

Ezra Bell, one of the 21st century’s most organically successful folk/Americana bands, has released their new single “let me in” and announced their ninth studio album, Chin Chin, a tribute to the band’s lead singer and lyricist Ben Wuamett. The new track sums up the living contradiction that is the life of a man and the fate of a band, with lyrics that reflect Ben’s turn toward guarded optimism in the last years of his life. 

Set for release on October 24th via ONErpm, Chin Chin was fully written and recorded before Wuamett’s unexpected passing last October. The 11-song collection serves as both a way of honoring Ben’s life and musical legacy while also paving a way forward for Ezra Bell, which has created its own sound featuring an unusual mix of street-hard lyrics with folk-pop and Americana sounds sprinkled with elements of rock, blues, jazz, and R&B.

“I’m not about to tell you what this song means or what inspired it,” shares Aaron Mattison (horns, backing vocals). “We can't say it any better than by making you this track. I can give you the lyrics. I can tell you that it is more prescient and true than is comfortable. I don't know what it means though…Ben passed. This was some of his last work, his best work. He was a writer and a singer; he did both here. He did not graduate high school, and he could not stay. And we leave no one behind.”

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Katy Guillen & The Drive - Outcome.

Kansas City duo Katy Guillen & The Drive led by music + life partners Katy Guillen (vocals/guitar) and Stephanie Williams (drums) prides itself on fostering empowered spaces for women in music both onstage and off, and their performances showcase the group’s signature all-female powerhouse formation, technical prowess, and electrifying chemistry. 

This core value heavily influenced the band’s second full-length effort Make That Sound, produced by Megan McCormick (Allison Russell, Amythyst Kiah), due October 17, 2025 via Are and Be Recordings.

The driving, melodic rocker “Outcome” gives a taste of what’s to come from the new album. It is about finding your voice, and going for what you want in life, no matter the challenges or hurdles along the way. “It’s a call to push through self-doubt and create your space in the world. You can steer the outcome,” says Katy.

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The Planet Smashers - Romanie - Amanda Pascali - Living Hour - flipturn feat. Old Mervs - Lydia Luce

Photo - Michael Crusty

The Planet Smashers - On the Dancefloor (Album).

Ska-punk legends The Planet Smashers are back with their new studio album, On the Dancefloor, out via Stomp Records (home to Wine Lips, The Anti-Queens, The Real McKenzies, and The Dreadnoughts). 

On the Dancefloor isn’t just a comeback, it's a coronation. Featuring electrifying guest appearances by ska trailblazers Neville Staple of The Specials, Charley “Aitch” Bembridge of The Selecter, and Sara Johnston of Bran Van 3000, the album taps into the rich legacy of 2Tone and third wave ska with heart, swagger, and soul. These collaborations bring an unmatched pedigree and history to the project, linking the band’s infectious energy with the genre’s pioneering voices.

Formed in 1994, The Planet Smashers have carved out a legacy as one of ska-punk’s most vital acts. With over 30 million Spotify streams, iconic tracks featured in everything from MTV’s Undergrads to Japanese cult anime Catman, and a live show that’s equal parts punk chaos and carnival joyride, the Montreal-based crew has spent over three decades earning their place in ska royalty.

On the Dancefloor features 13 high-octane tracks built for movement and uplift: party anthems, heartbreak jams, and protest songs delivered with unapologetic spirit and punchy horn arrangements. The album’s visual aesthetic was brought to life by renowned digital artist Scorpion Dagger, whose artwork matches the album’s vibrant energy beat for beat.


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Photo - Marcus Coblyn

Romanie - When Will We Lose Hope?

This week Melbourne-based Romanie shares her emotive new single ‘When Will We Lose Hope?’ Keeping hope alive against the odds, Romanie’s new single is a sincere and raw offering. Effortless vocals and reflective lyricism share a haunting reminder of the bigger pitcher. When Will We Lose Hope? is an honest and beautiful output, here to gently offer perspective. Sharing more, Romanie said; ‘I wrote this song in January 2024 during Adrienne Lenker’s School of Song workshop. 

I was feeling kind of lost in the world, wondering if making music was the right thing to do in a time of turmoil, reading the news and looking at villains ruling the world and destroying the planet. During the first lecture, Adrienne talked about having to let yourself feel things in order to write music and be curious. I cried during that lecture, and felt so inspired knowing that so many other beautiful songwriters were experiencing the same thing and suddenly writing songs and making music felt like the only straight forward thing to do.

It’s a really sad song, but I really want to emphasize the element of hope in it too, because it’s important to keep loving and caring for community. When Will We Lose Hope? is Romanie’s second single to arrive this year. It follows ‘Uh Oh’ which was released in May marking a new era for the artist, one that blends grit and grunge with softness and emotion in equal measure.

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Photo - Davide Casciolo

Amanda Pascali - Cleopatra.

Rising singer-songwriter Amanda Pascali shares her new single "Cleopatra," a powerful ode to resilience, identity, and the strength of women who break barriers across borders. Inspired by Pascali’s mother, an immigrant who arrived in 1980s New York City and built a life and career from the ground up, "Cleopatra" fuses Arabic melodies, Spanish guitar, spaghetti Western soundscapes, and world folk elements to reflect the multicultural mosaic of her story. 

"Cleopatra" follows Pascali's previous singles, including a song of unrequited love, "Wake Up, Baby!," and an ode to all-consuming love, "Amuri." Her new album Roses and Basil was produced by acclaimed singer-songwriter and fellow Texan Robert Ellis and will release on September 12.

"'Cleopatra' is a bilingual, genre-blending tribute to my mother — who was born in Egypt and journeyed to America by way of France — and to every woman who has had to fight to make her story heard," Pascali explains. “The song is inspired by my mother’s story, but it’s also about my responsibility as her first-born daughter to carry that story forward. The repeated line ‘I was left with the pen in my hand’ speaks to the urgency I feel, especially in this moment, to tell these stories.”

She continues, "I have had to convince many people that it is compelling to tell stories where women are at the forefront. Today, I am sharing this one: I wrote this song about my mom but it’s also about me, and every woman who came before me. In every story, there are pieces of the writer that seep in. This song celebrates my relationships, past, present, and future with the most important women in my life: my sisters, my mom, and my grandmothers in heaven. We are the main characters of this story.”

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Photo - Lucas Pingitore

Living Hour - Waiter.

Winnipeg band Living Hour releases "Waiter" this week, the second single from their fourth album Internal Drone Infinity, out October 17 via Keeled Scales. 

Lyricist Sam Sarty writes: "This is a song about people who wait. Wait-ers. I find myself waiting without knowing what I’m waiting for. I wait in all these liminal spaces: hotels, parking lots, and even relationships. This song reflects on two relationships where I spent a lot of time waiting; waiting to feel something or to see what would happen."

The song is an ode to time passing after a relationship, becoming self-sufficient after a period of emotional intimacy. Sarty continues: "This song feels like a tribute to all that energy that pours out of me when I’m yearning for someone to be closer to me, but it also acts as a realization that I’ll always have myself. It’s a relief, like feeling that the wait is over."

Anchored by Sarty’s vivid lyricism, shaped by years as a projectionist conjuring stories in a dark theater, the band explores the quiet magic hidden in everyday life. With wistful vocals, textural distortion, and poetic detail, Living Hour capture the ache of memory, the mess of feeling, and the beauty in what remains.

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Photo - Andy Vinson

flipturn - Burnout Days (feat. Old Mervs).

flipturn, "one of the most innovative bands out now" are set to bring their acclaimed album Burnout Days to UK audiences this November, with a run of dates that includes their biggest London show to date at Kentish Town Forum on November 14th, and an appearance at Live At Leeds City Festival.

The announcement comes as the band unveils a special collaboration with Old Mervs on a new version of their title track "Burnout Days", released today (August 20th). The collaboration emerged from the bands' recent sold-out afterparty performance together at Park West in Chicago following Lollapalooza.

"We've always thought 'Burnout Days' was a summer song, and since we will be coming over during the Australian summer we thought they would be the perfect fit," says flipturn frontman Dillon Basse. Old Mervs' Dave House adds, "We are absolutely stoked with this collab with flipturn! 'Burnout Days' is such a fun song and playing around in the studio with it was a blast."

Released earlier this year via Dualtone Records, the 12-song collection Burnout Days finds the indie-rock powerhouse returning as sonic architects, harnessing their impressive knack for hooks, shimmering soundscapes and "nostalgia-inducing lyrical delivery" (Uproxx). The album has been lauded for its "rays of optimism" (SPIN), "irresistible hooks" (Consequence) and "infectious energy" (Luna Collective).

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Photo - Ryan Usher

Lydia Luce - Quiet.

Nashville-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Luce shares "Quiet," the latest single from her new album Mammoth, which releases October 30. A much-needed antidote to the relentlessness of the world around us, the soft-pedaled keys and mellow strings mirror the feeling of sitting in harmonious silence with someone you love. The song is accompanied by an acoustic live video performed with Lockeland Strings.

“'Quiet' is a song for my partner and I," Luce says. "‘Quiet' is about the ability to sit with someone and not have to say anything. To be able to soak up their presence and find contentment, joy and peace in the silence. We are about to have our first kiddo and it's something we've been trying for, for the last year and a half. Everything is about to change in our house and we are truly cherishing these final months at home, just the two of us and our dog."

Recorded in just one week at Peter Gabriel’s celebrated Real World Studios, Mammoth was produced with longtime creative collaborator Jordan Lehning (Kacey Musgraves, Joy Oladokun, Caitlin Rose), with whom Luce runs the Nashville-based string collective Lockeland Strings. These songs are inspired by the ambient compositions of Luce's solo Lethe music project, as well as the natural surroundings of the UK countryside where Mammoth was recorded, with sounds of blowing winds and morning birdsong woven into the instrumentation. Gone are the boisterous elements of her previous releases, now replaced by something more quietly contemplative that represents this new chapter of tranquility. From the sweeping title track to the dreamy "Wisteria" and the tender lullaby "Florence," Mammoth is bound by a common thread of self-love, hope and acceptance, along with a fervent belief in the serendipity of the last few years. 


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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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