Sub Pop signings Kiwi Jr. follow up ‘Cooler Returns’ with ‘Chopper’, a new album that again finds the Toronto quartet exploring a more sonic sound – with more synths than ever before – as Jeremy Gaudt discusses everything from living in the digital age to the constant spector of death and the joy, hilarity and…
Wisconsin indie rockers Disq have shared new single ‘Cujo Kiddies’ ahead of the release of album ‘Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet’. The follow-up to 2020’s should-have-been-massive ‘Collector’, the new album finds the band expanding their sound and heading in new directions. For this single, bassist/songwriter/vocalist Raina Bock claims: ‘I wanted to make a song that sounded…
Poster Paints (a Glasgow duo made up of Carla J Easton and Frightened Rabbit’s Simon Liddell) have shared new single ‘Falling Hard’ ahead of the release of their self-titled debut album on 14 October via Ernest Jenning Record Co./Olive Grove Records. The single found Simon sending Carla three minutes of melodic and jangly indie-pop in…
Art Moore – a trio made up of Taylor Vick (also known as Boy Scouts) and Ezra Furman collaborators Sam Durkes and Trevor Brooks – release their self-titled album full of bittersweet tales of love, loss and human connection. Their songs focus on various characters, including jilted friends and restless widows, as they examine emotional…
A lo-fi supergroup featuring members of Fresh, ME REX and Finish Flag, Alcopop! Records signings cheerbleedrz debut albumfinds the trio discussing what it means to be a womxn in the current climate – all against a backdrop of brexy melodies and sugar-rush hooks. Fuzzy and scuzzy guitar sounds – with a hint of ’90s US…
Keeled Scales signings Why Bonnie have shared ‘Nowhere, LA’ ahead of the release of their debut album ’90 in November’ on 19August. The song – with the LA in the title referring to Louisiana – finds Blair Howerton comparing a broken-down car to the stalling of a relationship: ‘This song is about looking at a…
James Smith returns with his Good Good Blood project to share ‘Wrap My Arms Around You’ – an evocative and emotional piece that will appear on his upcoming album ‘Celebrate’ (released 16th September). Opening with a sound that falls somewhere between early Radiohead and DIY Americana, James laments the fact ‘I don’t know what I’m…
A burst of feedback signals the opening of the new China Bears single, ‘Someone Kill This Party’ – an anthemic yet melancholic piece the band claim is about wanting to go home moments after you’ve made the decision to go out: ‘When the DJ asked us to scream, I just stayed quiet’. The band go…
She & Him – the duo made up of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward – make a welcome return with a tribute album to one of the finest songwriters of all time, Brian Wilson. Released just after the ‘Pet Sounds’ man’s 80thbirthday, the album finds the band putting their own spin on some of the…
Momma – a band formed by Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten while they were still in high school – follow up 2020’s ‘Two of Me’ with new album ‘Household Name’. Now signed to Lucky Number Records, the duo tackle a variety of life issues with angst and humour against a thunderous backdrop of early ’90s-inspired…
Foals’ latest album – ‘Life Is Yours’ – opens in boisterous fashion with the dancey disco-meets-samba beat rhythms of the title track. It has an introduction that demands you shuffle your feet with Yannis roaring out the words: ‘Life is yours, I heard you say’. ‘Wake Me Up’ continues in this assertive vein although this…
With a title once again taken from one of his favourite Twitter sayings, Liam Gallagher returns with new album ‘C’Mon You Know’ ahead of some huge shows at Knebworth this summer – his first appearance at the iconic venue since Oasis legendary shows in 1996. ‘More Power’ opens the album with a children’s choir and…
After spending over two decades together, Stars’ ninth album – and first in five years – ‘From Capelton Hill’ finds the Montreal indie rockers discussing the inevitability of mortality while celebrating the joys that make life worth living, with co-vocalist Torquil Campbell saying: ‘I guess what ‘From Capelton Hill’ means to me is from memory,…
Sharon Van Etten’s sixth album – ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ – is a record designed to be listened to in its entirety. None of the songs on it were shared ahead of the release and they find Sharon musing on how all the key moments in life – parenthood, partnerships, the past…
Chester trio Peaness finally release their debut album ‘World Full of Worry’ on 6 May through their own Totally Snick Records label. The release follows numerous EPs, tours and a live session with Marc Riley on 6 Music and lives up to its title with a steely determination to get through the mundanity of modern…
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