Would-be-goods - Austel - Alpha Pet - Spirited Followers - Kye Alfred Hillig

Would-be-goods - Tears For Leda.

It's a busy fortnight coming up for Would-be-goods. The third single from their new album 'Tears for Leda' comes out today Thursday (5 Feb), a retelling of a Greek myth as a garage band song. Then the album itself, 'Tears Before Bedtime' comes out on 13 Feb, having already received 4 stars in this month's Mojo.

Tears Before Bedtime is the sparkling new album by the Would-be-goods, Jessica Griffin’s band of pop adventurers. Since The Camera Loves Me, their cult classic 1988 debut for the legendary él Records, they have blazed a musical trail through indie guitar pop, with a garageband edge and forays into other territories - glam rock, tango, French chanson… The result is unique and timeless. 

The songs on Tears Before Bedtime balance delicacy and power. Perfect pop melodies are delivered in Jessica’s gorgeous and idiosyncratic voice. Her lyrics are intelligent and wry, wistful and witty. Every song tells a story, taking us on a journey through space and time, from belle époque Paris to a 1960s London biker café, from a riverbank in ancient Greece to a 1970s teenage bedroom. 

Listening to a Would-be-goods album is like wandering through a gallery of portraits. Innocence gives way to experience. Danger lurks amid the lights of the funfair in the 1950s carousel whirl of The Gallopers. The sinister Dr Love promises heaven but sends you down to hell, to the sound of a last dance in a smoky soul basement. A nymph meets a god in disguise in a garage-band take on a Greek myth (Tears for Leda). The Rose Tattoo is the tale of a doomed love in a sultry Southern state. Don't Come Crying To Me flames an ex-lover to the sound of Bollywood horns and shivery guitar. In Madame X a portrait painter vents his fury on a spoilt socialite beauty. The album closes with a sweetly jazzy lullaby (The Moon Doesn't Mind).

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Artwork - Artemis Szekir-Rigas

Austel - 30th Day.

Facing things head on, ‘30th Day’ sees Austel take back control. Powerful and compelling, the new single is a brooding response to the relentlessness of being drawn to the wrong people. Sharing more, Austel explained: “30th Day is about feeling tired of being drawn to bad things / people who hurt you. You know it’s a dead end, or a groundhog day of getting your hopes raised that this time it’ll be different, and you’re exhausted by the amount of space it’s taking up in your life.  While the song depicts quite a bleak situation, I think there’s power in naming what is causing you pain or holding you back. Once you see it for what it truly is, you can start to work out a way to overcome.”

Austel kicked off a brand new chapter with the release of ‘The Beach in December’ back in November. Cinemantic and soothing, the indie-folk offering was well received, Under The Radar premiered the track calling it ‘warm and intimate’ with ‘gorgeous stacked harmonies’ whilst Clash magazine described the track as ‘charming’ and commented on its ‘joyous innocence’. Today's new single ‘30th Day’ looks to be a significant follow up.

An accomplished singer, songwriter and producer, Austel’s extensive production work has seen her sound and talents continually expand over the years, honing her ability to create polished, indie-folk outputs that shine with an unmistakable texture and warmth. As she explores the folkier intimacies of the guitar in her newest project, she is developing a very personal sound that preserves a very spacious and open feeling. 

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Alpha Pet - Don't Be Shy.

Alpha Pet are a Stockholm-based rock band playing sharp, fast and fun post-punk with roots in late-70s punk and new wave. Their sound has been compared to everything from Swedish morning-TV grumble to Talking Heads and The Fall and the band have made a name for themselves with their energetic, unpredictable and loud live shows. After a run of “Come to Brazil!”-evoking releases, Alpha Pet are set to release their self-titled debut EP Alpha Pet on March 27 via Rama Lama Records.

The new single “Don't Be Shy” is a fitting opening statement for Alpha Pet's next musical chapter, an accomplished smorgasbord of sounds jammed together to form a melodic whole, led by the divine jestering of frontman Rocky 3000 soaring, aching vocals. The track features backing vocals from members of label mates Melby, Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes and Cat Princess. 

“I wanted to write a love song, and we did, but then I felt it needed something else. A twist,” says Alpha Pet vocalist Rocky 3000. “So it’s a love song, with a twist. But it’s not about cheating, like my fiancée thought.” 

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Spirited Followers - Returning.

Cardiff experimental folk group Spirited Followers introduce “Returning,” their debut single on BWGiBWGAN, marking the first recorded release in the label from a band already earning a reputation as one of Wales’ most immersive and powerful live acts. Blending ancient song traditions with exploratory textures and contemporary experimentation, the track reveals a gentler, meditative side to their expansive sound - reframing themes of death through warmth, acceptance and spiritual calm.

Cardiff-based experimental folk group Spirited Followers release “Returning,” their debut single on BWGiBWGAN, marking a significant moment for a band already gaining recognition as one of the most distinctive and powerful new live acts in Wales.

Known for immersive and emotionally charged performances, Spirited Followers have built their reputation through live shows where ancient musical lineages meet contemporary experimentation. Their sound feels both deeply rooted and quietly searching, carrying music passed down through generations while remaining unmistakably new.

Drawing from Appalachian folk, Indian classical music, Greek traditions, post-rock, and avant-garde practices, the band’s expansive sound is shaped by an unusual lineup of dulcimer, harmonium, bouzouki, cello, synths, and drums. “Returning” explores a gentler, more serene side of their work, inspired by Christian Appalachian hymns reflecting on death and reframing the subject through warmth, beauty, and acceptance.

Spirited Followers · Returning

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Kye Alfred Hillig - Our Remaining Pig.

Tacoma, Washington songwriter Kye Alfred Hillig returns with “Our Remaining Pig,” the second single from his upcoming album The All-Night Costume Company, out March 4, 2026. Arriving yesterday February 4, the track pushes deeper into Hillig’s emotional terrain, pairing alternative-country and indie rock with a writer’s instinct for metaphor, restraint, and uncomfortable honesty. Where the album’s first single reintroduced Hillig’s voice, “Our Remaining Pig” begins to reveal the stakes. 

Hillig has spent more than two decades rooted in the Puget Sound music scene, balancing songwriting with the realities of work, community, and long stretches away from the spotlight. Across nine solo albums, he’s developed a reputation for sharp melodies and lyrics that refuse to look away from difficult truths. His songs often sit at the intersection of personal reckoning and shared experience, finding meaning not in resolution, but in saying the hard thing plainly. Fans of The Jayhawks, Neil Young, Uncle Tupelo, Father John Misty, Kevin Morby, MJ Lenderman, and early Wilco will recognize the lineage, even as Hillig’s voice remains distinctly his own.

“Our Remaining Pig” takes its title and emotional core from an image that surfaced during Hillig’s time in art therapy. “I drew a man on his family farm wading across a river toward the final living pig, knowing he had to slaughter it,” Hillig explains. “You can tell he doesn’t want to do this, but sometimes the hard thing is exactly what must be done.” In the song, that image becomes a parallel for a relationship at a breaking point, a moment where avoidance only deepens the damage. “Sometimes couples just need to say the honest and painful thing,” he adds. “No one benefits from avoiding the suffering that comes with growth.”

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The Darts - Scarlett Macfarlane - Lunar & The Deception - Les Flâneurs feat. Avantage Kairos - Eleyet McConnell - Andervel

Photo - Tina Gross

The Darts - Apocalypse.

Seattle’s The Darts return with “Apocalypse,” the second advance single from their upcoming LP Halloween Love Songs, arriving March 3. Where “Midnight Creep” danced in B-movie shadows, “Apocalypse” blows the door off the darker half of the album, leaning into caveman rhythms, volcanic fuzz, and the kind of apocalyptic joy that makes destruction sound like deliverance. It hit February 3 and marks the moment the record shifts from spooky fun into full-throttle, after-midnight fire.

The song was born in Angers, France, when singer/organ conjurer Nicole Laurenne wandered through the massive medieval Apocalypse Tapestry, a wall of woven chaos, angels, beasts, storms, the whole cosmic meltdown. “The lightning bolt struck me,” she says. “The song practically wrote itself in the van as we left the castle.” Instead of doom, Nicole leaned into the strange liberation of burning it all down: freedom from suffering, freedom from crowns, freedom from being told what comes next. She wrote the line “no future, no kings” as a mantra of release — and a year later, as if the song had cracked something open, “No Kings” erupted as a protest chant across the U.S. All while the track existed only as a demo on her laptop.

Musically, “Apocalypse” hits like a ritual. A pounding, Neanderthal beat through the verses, wide-open chant on the chorus, and those snaking organ lines that nod straight to The Seeds, The Standells, and other 60s greats who knew how to make the end of the world sound like a block-party with broken amps. Rebecca Davidson’s guitar tone drags the song into modern grit with thick, grimy Mudhoney fuzz, a little L7 bite, and flashes of Bikini Kill’s unbottled anger. It’s garage rock with a cracked halo, stomped through the dirt and set on fire.

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Scarlett Macfarlane - Winter’s Whisper.

New York’s Scarlett Macfarlane returns with “Winter’s Whisper,” a fun, energetic, and delightfully zany alternative-pop single that invites listeners into a world where fantasy and reality blur. Inspired initially by the image of a magical winter walk, the song quickly evolved into something far more surreal and became a reflection on how life itself often feels stranger than fiction.

“I wrote ‘Winter’s Whisper’ based on just the title and how magical a walk in a winter ‘wonderland’ could be,” Macfarlane explains. “Then words like ‘magic’ and ‘wonderland’ took me down a not-so-proverbial rabbit hole.” Drawing inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s iconic prose, the song shifted perspective, becoming a commentary on the bizarre, confusing, dangerous, and incredible nature of reality itself. “This world, life itself, is filled with fantasy,” she says. “It can be all at once transformed by the cast of characters you encounter throughout your own zany story.”

True to its theme, the song embraces duality. The title reflects the idea that every story has more than one side and that mystery is an inescapable part of understanding the world. Musically, “Winter’s Whisper” stands out through its unexpected fusion of pop melodies with an almost rockabilly, off-kilter energy. “I think the use of an almost zany rockabilly feel in a pop track really makes this song stand out,” Macfarlane notes. “It’s just fun to listen to.”

The songwriting process became a creative puzzle, weaving familiar fragments of Alice in Wonderland into a new and personal narrative. “I basically got to stitch tiny moments from a very famous childhood story into my own interpretation of Wonderland,” she says. “It was like solving a puzzle and making the pieces fit in a way they weren’t meant to in order to make my own image.”

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Lunar & The Deception - Your Monsters.

Following a strong 2025 with the brooding single "Eclipse" followed by the subsequent “No More Secrets”, Lunar & The Deception now unveil another powerful precursor to their long-awaited debut album The Somnambulist, arriving March 6th. The band's striking new single "Your Monsters" landed on February 3rd.

Opening with delicate piano and lead singer Britt Xyra Dusk’s haunting vocals—evocative of Amy Lee's dramatic intensity—"Your Monsters" draws you into an intimate space before jagged guitars tear through the stillness. As drums build and strings sweep in, the track transforms into an anthemic, darkly progressive rock opus—melancholic yet powerful, vulnerable yet defiant. The song captures the duality of love—its tenderness and its terror—laying bare the beauty and brutality of relationships where affection and destruction exist side by side, where passion gives way to conflict.

At 02:48, the track undergoes a profound shift as layered vocals relay over each other, creating a rich choral effect that feels both communal and overwhelming—like an army gathering strength or a final stand in an epic battle. The mood transforms from personal torment to collective catharsis, moving from claustrophobic intimacy to vast, cinematic scope. This anthemic finale doesn't offer resolution but liberation through confrontation—the sound of rising bloodied but unbroken, where triumph mingles with sorrow and private pain becomes transcendent. Influenced by The Doors, Portishead, and Nico, with echoes of dramatic darkwave/gothic rock, "Your Monsters" is both a meditation on intimacy and a reckoning with the darker forces that surface when two people collide.

The band reflect: "'Your Monsters' is about the raw tenderness of love while confronting the shadows that emerge in intimacy. It's about those moments when connection becomes collision, when what we cherish can also consume us. It's an honest reckoning with both the light and dark we bring to each other."

Lunar and The Deception · Your Monsters

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Les Flâneurs - Fireworks feat. Avantage Kairos.

Les Flâneurs is the project of the musician and producer Alessandro Marchetti. His first album A Long Season (2020) was played in countless nations around the world and got rave reviews and appreciation. Afterwards, the project entered a phase of exploration. The new album Afterglow, to be released in 2026,  arrives after six years of research, experimentation, and collaboration — a slow process shaped by mood, instinct, and artistic necessity rather than industry timing.

What if love was a fireworks show? A fire, yes, but a fireworks fire — a fleeting sensation of unknown fantasy. Fireworks captures that ephemeral explosion of color, light, and emotion: dazzling, intense, and impossible to hold. Like a spark in the darkest night, it illuminates, mesmerizes, and disappears almost as quickly as it arrives, leaving a space for the imagination to wander — between expectation and fulfillment.
 
The song was born as a collaboration between Les Flâneurs and Avantage Kairos, the singer and leader of the band Kairoscode, who added voice and lyrics to Marchetti's instrumental composition, forging the definitive identity of the song. Fireworks' video was filmed in the stunning landscapes of the Azores, where the singer Avantage Kairos now lives, by the Portuguese director Paula Murio. The everyday life's scenes from the heavenly island translate the song’s dreamlike intensity into cinematic images full of color, light, and poetic narrative.

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Eleyet McConnell - The Horizon.

Award-winning husband-and-wife duo Eleyet McConnell are set to release their highly anticipated sophomore album, The Journey, on March 6, 2026, across all major digital platforms. The project marks a powerful new chapter for Angie and Chris McConnell, showcasing their most confident, expansive, and emotionally driven work to date.

Leading the album is the anthemic first single and official music video, “The Horizon,” a classic rock–inspired statement of resilience, perseverance, and forward motion. Built around driving guitars, soaring melodies, and heartfelt lyrics, the track has quickly become a defining moment in the duo’s evolving sound.

The Journey continues the momentum Eleyet McConnell have built as one of independent music’s most authentic and compelling voices. Blending rock, Americana, and roots influences, the album explores themes of survival, self-discovery, love, accountability, and hope—reflecting both personal and universal struggles.

Produced and recorded by Patrick Himes at Reel Love Recording Company, the album features a seasoned lineup of musicians, including: Angie McConnell – Vocals, keys; Chris McConnell – Bass; Brandon Ullery – Guitar; Rob Olsen – Guitar; Patrick Himes – B3/Keys, Producer; Kimmi Sampson – Fiddle; Kenny Barnett – Drums, JD Harris – B3.

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Andervel - Foxglove.

On May 1st Mexican-born, Reykjavík-based singer-songwriter Andervel will release his debut album Ironclad & Palm Trees. A folk-leaning, multilingual record shaped by migration, memory and the meeting of two homelands, the album expands the poetic, cross-cultural world he has been steadily building across recent singles, where the warmth of Mexico meets the windswept quiet of Iceland.

Today, alongside the announcement, Andervel has shared the album’s lead single, ‘Foxglove’. Named after the hardy, wind-tossed flower that thrives across Icelandic landscapes, the track reflects on resilience during moments of transition. Beyond describing the seasonal shift from summer into autumn and the transformation of the Icelandic landscape, the song captures an intimate moment of suspension: between light and darkness, the hidden and the visible. Gentle finger-picked guitar and brushed percussion contrast with the relentless force of the Icelandic wind, which pounds against walls like ocean waves. Written during a period of anxiety as Anderson and his partner faced the long descent into winter, the song was inspired by a seemingly fragile flower surviving against the magnitude of harsh weather - a quiet meditation on waiting, uncertainty, and finding strength before change arrives.

Ironclad & Palm Trees reflects a project that has grown alongside its creator, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist José Luis Anderson. His classical vocal training (Anderson was mentored by his grandfather, award-winning opera tenor Librado Alexander), early musical upbringing, and years performing Mexican and Latin American folk shape the timeless quality of his voice, while his life in Iceland informs the album’s emotional terrain and sense of place.
 
Moving fluidly between Spanish, Icelandic and English, Andervel draws from a broad lineage of lyric-driven songwriting rooted in the folk tradition. Alongside contemporary influences such as Adrianne Lenker, Laura Marling and Natalia Lafourcade, as well as Mexican composers Manuel M. Ponce and María Grever. Active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ponce and Grever helped bridge European classical traditions with Mexican folk music, creating intimate, expressive vocal works whose emotional directness continues to resonate in Andervel’s songwriting and live performances.

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Gitika Partington - Hiding Places - SAMAJAMA - Staci Gruber

Gitika Partington - Home / Love's a Refrain / Rocket Man.

Songwriter and choral director/arranger Gitika Partington has released thirteen albums simultaneously, and without originally setting out to, she has broken the current world record for the most albums released in one day, which as of 2025 stood at twelve. Comprising 130 original songs written and recorded over a five-year period, the project began with the idea of nine albums. Then ten. Twelve became the structure. Thirteen turned up anyway.

During the pandemic part of the process, Tom Robinson of the Tom Robinson band and BBC Radio 6 and Amazing Radio DJ described Gitika as ‘a force of nature’ for producing nine virtual choir videos with help from community filmmaker and choir member Bob Karper. Check out “video killed the radio star”! 

Gitika created the thirteen albums as part of a sustained songwriting practice rather than a commercial release cycle. Composed incrementally over the course of five years, including periods marked by significant challenges. Moments of unbelievable light were interspersed, and the weekly songwriting which felt like an anchor. The first twelve albums form a chronological musical record of time passing with a thirteenth album of songs that nearly got away- a body of work intended for wandering, reflection, and long-form listening rather than singles, algorithms, or drip-fed promotion. Lots of the songs are messages to Gitika from Gitika - stories and comments on the day she wrote them. Lots are about returning home, uncomfortable moments, little blasts of therapy, quirky moments. Pleasing no-one but herself.

This release is an artistic gesture as much as a musical one. This project emphasizes that creativity doesn't require permission or external validation. It encourages anyone making stuff to ignore self-doubt and focus on just making art for its own sake, valuing the creative process over the result. Bandcamp (HERE).



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Photo - Calli Westra

Hiding Places - Waiting.

Brooklyn-based indie rockers Hiding Places announce their debut album, The Secret to Good Living, May tour dates across the northeast USA, and release single "Waiting." The just-released single "Waiting," written by vocalist/guitarist Nicholas Byrne, is a grungy song heavy with distortion and grief. The video (also created by Byrne) juxtaposes live footage of the band alongside video of the demolition and an animated simulation of the iconic Kingda Ka rollercoaster (R.I.P.).

"Hiding Places’ first bassist, Anthony Cozzarelli, left the band in July of 2022. I wrote the chorus the day before Anthony left the band. I recalled the slow death of my uncle, and the painful anticipation that filled the interstitial space between here and gone. I wrote the verses six months later in the freezing cold on my way home from my studio in the industrial part of our neighborhood. I sang this song to my aunt years later as she was dying. We both cried," Byrne said.

The band, originally from North Carolina, caught our attention after self-releasing a trio of excellent EPs. Now a four-piece of Audrey Keelin, Henry Cutting, Nicholas Byrne, and Michael Matsakis, started as an almost tradition-like practice; meeting in rural Georgia for a week or two at a time to record and write; to open themselves up to songs that would visit and hone their technical ability to capture them. Marked by a consistently collaborative process throughout their career, Hiding Places' debut LP is their first collection recorded together in a professional recording studio. 

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SAMAJAMA - I Still Get BUTTERFLIES.

SAMAJAMA, a former global executive, lived a fast-paced and luxurious life, traveling the world and closing major deals for Fortune 500 companies. However, his true happiness always lay in coming home to his daughter and wife. The success of his career allowed him to purchase and build a beautiful horse farm and mountain home. Despite the wealth and glamour of his job, his heart was always with his family and the simple pleasures of life such as hiking, bonfires, and spending time with his beloved animals.

However, when the global epidemic hit and he went through a divorce, his life seemed to crumble around him. In a state of forced isolation, he turned to music as a form of healing. Over the years, his love for music evolved into songwriting and singing about the raw and emotive experiences of humanity. Music became his solace and lyrics became his source of healing.

Through this journey of recovery and resilience, SAMAJAMA found his way back to victory, always holding onto the belief that "music soothed him, but lyrics healed him".

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Staci Gruber - This Time Around.

The new single "This Time Around" from Boston-based singer-songwriter Staci Gruber is released this week. The rock meets Americana tune was recorded in Nashville and produced by Erik Halbig (Ty Herndon, Jamie O'Neal). Written by Staci and Michael Orland (American Idol), the track is a relatable and infectious honky-tonk anthem. Staci shares, "This Time Around is really a story of love that pulled too hard, truth that came too late, and a heart that finally listened when it mattered most". 

Staci shares, "This Time Around is really a story of love that pulled too hard, truth that came too late, and a heart that finally listened when it mattered most". 

Staci has found success performing with Dan Aykroyd and the Blues Brothers, writing an anthem for Billie Jean King, and performing at several large events with collaborator Michael Orland. Through her music and her research, Staci Gruber exemplifies the power of connection – whether through the transformative power of music or the scientific exploration of medical solutions—and reminds us all that no matter where we are, we are never truly alone. She shares, “Maybe music really can help people feel things they need to feel… I always hope that music allows people to understand someone else’s perspective – empathy in its truest sense.” 

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

The Legal Matters - The Message.

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

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

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

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Victoria Staff - Sweet Blue Moon.

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

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

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

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The Slow Day - Antidote.

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

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

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

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

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Prophets Of Addiction - Slippin’ Away.

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

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

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

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Deniz Simon & Canned Heat - Jim Basnight - Blue Bayou - Kimberly Dawn - Sydney Quiseng

Deniz Simon & Canned Heat - Song For A Friend.

It doesn’t happen every day that a pianist and singer, composer, producer, and singer-songwriter who lives between Zurich and Los Angeles records a song with rock legends like Canned Heat. Yet that is exactly what Deniz Simon (born 1980) has achieved. Also known as “Dee” and as "The Ambassadress Of The Sixties", she has produced the single “Song For A Friend” together with the legendary classic rock band.

And this is only the beginning: Deniz Simon has already worked with Paul Turner, Derrick McKenzie, Rob Harris, and The Jam Horns of Jamiroquai — an impressive testament to her international network and musical versatility. Even if her name may be new to some, Deniz Simon has long since secured her place in the music scene. Through collaborations with various rock and pop greats, she combines musical depth with stylistic openness in her work.

Her musical journey began early: as a child she received classical piano training, later studying jazz and contemporary music with a focus on piano and vocals. For many years, she has also worked as a music teacher and workshop leader. Deniz Simon composes original pieces for piano and voice and rearranges well-known songs in a personal, contemporary way. Her work connects musical tradition with a timeless soul, rock, and pop aesthetic — building a bridge between past and present. 

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Jim Basnight - Children of The Night / Under the Rock (Album).

“Children of The Night,” is the new single along with Jim Basnights new album “Under the Rock," which is currently out only on Bandcamp, but scheduled for release on most major digital platforms on February 3rd, 2026. "Under the Rock" will be released on CD on the Kool Kat Musik (USA) and on LP on Precedent Records (USA) on February 13th, 2026. 

“Children of The Night” is a track which will likely be released on a to-be-titled album in the works, as in Jims opinion "it is one of the best tunes cut during the recent 25 track sessions".

Jim tells us "My last single, “Get it Out” and “Days in The Sun,” was one of the most successful digital singles since I started issuing them seven years ago. It's currently on a nine-week run on the Radio Indie Alliance Top 100 (RIA), peaking at #2. It's also charted on two other notable indie charts, World Indie Music Top 100 and the Hugs Top 200 chart (currently at #101, moving up 23 spots this week).

For that single, this new single, and the next few singles, my plan is to release a track from the album, plus a non-album track to provide a window into some of the quality tracks being prepared for the next album release.


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Photo -  Luke Jin

Blue Bayou - Carousel Song.

Fresh off a festival run and two tours, Oxford based new wave chamber-pop band Blue Bayou have released their third single ‘Carousel Song’. Seemingly emerging from thin air in Spring 2023, Blue Bayou took Oxford by surprise when they hosted and sold out a string of debut performances at the Jericho Tavern, Modern Art Oxford, and The Library, developing a reputation as an exclusive, “infamous” live act (BBC) for their eclectic and confounding live performances.

A UK tour supporting Max Blansjaar and the band’s own headline appearances in London and Brighton followed, with the band consistently welcoming larger stages and crowds: in 2025, they shared a stage with Jacob Alon at Wilderness Festival and played the main stage at Love Trails and in 2024 they headlined Sunday at Riverside, after Beam Me Up. Blue Bayou are currently the in-demand support act in venues in Oxford: they’ve been main support for Brown Horse, warmed stages for European acts the Klittens, New Yorkers like the Jeanines, and locals like Danny Mellin at the O2 Academy 2.

‘Carousel Song’, produced by Chris Barker (Willie J. Healey), shimmers with the magic of mid-winter: tracking to tape, and self-producing at a home studio, Blue Bayou eschewed a clean recording in favour of the warm texture of overtones, tape hum, and rack reverb. The opening verse seemingly hosts a world of distant strings and bells, while only a parlour guitar was being played. The bass which then enters evocatively re-harmonises these understated chords. It’s as if the ground beneath you is shifting, while the violin, vibraphone, and makeshift percussion, swirl in the air above. All of this is to situate the listener in an old, familiar, world of wonder, magic, and loss.

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Kimberly Dawn - Days Go By.

Country artist and singer-songwriter Kimberly Dawn releases her version of the Keith Urban classic, "Days Go By." Kimberly Dawn is back with a pulsating, feel-good cover of Keith Urban's “Days Go By,” a track that hits the gas from the first note. Driven by rhythmic guitars that immediately catch the ear, it draws you straight into the story, and Dawn wastes no time setting the scene owning her take on Urban's fantastic lyrics: “I'm changin' lanes and talkin' on the phone / drivin' way too fast / and the interstate's jammed with gunners like me / afraid of comin' in last.”

The production perfectly captures that unmistakable feeling of freedom on a long stretch of highway. It feels like a summer drive with the windows down, elbow on the doorframe, hand surfing the breeze, as the production opens up and sweeps you into the soaring chorus. It’s a song balanced delicately between presence and nostalgia, a reminder that the “good old days” are often the ones we’re living right now. You can hear Dawn’s voice lean into the quiet truth that life’s rush can blur its brightest moments unless we’re intentional about staying grounded in them. Witty yet heartfelt, Kimberly Dawn delivers a timeless song through her own country lens: time doesn’t slow down, so it’s on us to meet it with intention.

Kimberly Dawn has established herself as a resilient force in the country music landscape, backed by deep industry ties and a commitment to advocacy. She is an active voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), the Country Music Association (CMA), the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and the Americana Music Association. Her dedication to the craft recently earned her a nomination for Songwriter of the Year at the 2024 Texas Country Music Awards for "Cowboy's Church," as well as a Song of the Year nomination at the 2019 HMMI.

Recently named a 2025 Artist to Watch by Got Country Online, Dawn continues to elevate her profile and has been featured on CMT, Holler, CMA, and the Academy of Country Music, and more. Beyond the music, she utilizes her platform as a Music Ambassador for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), blending her artistic output with a message of wellness and resilience. With the release of "Days Go By," produced by Kent Wells, she enters the new year ready to connect with fans on a massive scale.

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Photo - Connor Truax

Sydney Quiseng - That's My Baby! (On Main Street).

Echosmith frontwoman Sydney (Sierota) Quiseng has released her new single “That’s My Baby! (On Main Street)” alongside the official announcement of her upcoming solo EP That’s My Baby!, out February 20. A testament to Quiseng’s artistic evolution, That’s My Baby! is defined by reflection, resilience, and self-discovery, and chronicles her unfiltered experiences with love, loss, and personal growth as she steps into the next chapter of her story and prepares for the arrival of her daughter.

“This song is about shamelessly loving someone out loud,” shares Quiseng on the new single. “I got married at 21 and now I’m expecting my first baby, so these lyrics celebrate both the love I found with my husband and the love I already have for my baby. It feels extra special to release this one at eight months pregnant. I hope this song makes you want to have date night this Friday, on Main Street.”

Showcasing the emotive vocals and signature storytelling that have cemented her as an indie-pop superstar and fast-rising Country/Americana singer-songwriter, That’s My Baby! draws inspiration from Quiseng’s own journey and stretches from the indie-pop stardom she found as a teenager with Echosmith all the way to falling in love with her now-husband and her journey of self-discovery as a solo artist who is building a family of her own. 

That’s My Baby! captures the wide range of emotions Quiseng has had as she’s learnt to navigate this new terrain and was recorded during her pregnancy as an honest representation of who she is today. Featuring lead single “Coffee Shop in Kyoto” as well as recent fan favorite “When a Good Thing Ends” which explores the heartache of holding on while trying to move forward when something you love is slipping away, That’s My Baby! offers listeners an unfiltered look into her heart and mind and carries forward the authenticity listeners have always connected with. 

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