Life are making a welcome return with ‘ABSTRACT/NATURAL’. The Hull band’s fourth album, it started life in a poetry book that frontman Mez had been writing while exploring the great outdoors. These musings on nature, landscapes, love and acceptance found Mez transforming hills, ridges and landmarks into incredible characters in what he playfully described as…
Festival season is almost kicking off and even with Glastonbury taking a fallow year, there’s plenty to enjoy out on the farms and fields this summer. We will once again be heading to Upcote Farm in the Cotswolds to enjoy every moment of 2000trees. The line-up, as you’d expect, is completely stellar with acts like…
Embrace return with ‘Avalanche’, the Yorkshire band’s ninth studio album. Released via Cooking Vinyl, Danny McNamara says the song is one that looks for joy in the simple moments: ‘Real, deep, honest-to-God joy doesn’t live in the big, dramatic moments we’re all taught to chase. It doesn’t live in huge, unattainable goals or impressive, life-changing…
Emo revival legends Seahaven have returned with a new self-titled album, and it’s one that finds vocalist and guitarist Kyle Soto examining a tumultuous time in his personal life, taking in the power and pain of memories, the grief of loss and the fragile nature of life itself. ‘Godsend’ opens the record in typically atmospheric…
‘I Built You a Tower’, Death Cab for Cutie’s eleventh studio album (and first on the independent ANTI- Records) found the band going back to basics and working together on the songs – in person – in the studio. The album finds Ben Gibbard trying to find a way forward following the breakdown of his…
”Tell Me It’s A Dream’ is about being ambitious and seeing enhanced beauty in the world’ Rosa Walton (one half of Let’s Eat Grandma) says of her debut solo album. ‘It’s about striving for ultimate freedom. A lot of the attitude in these songs is about following your dreams – and that’s exactly what I…
Jack Kaye, formerly of The Magic Gang, has shared his debut solo single ‘Dora’ via Fascination Street Records. His first new material in the six years since the band broke up, it combines zesty Lemon Twigs melodies surrounding something far more sinister as Jack takes aim at a toxic relationship that leaves a loved one…
Australian indie-poppers Sesame Girl have shared new single ‘Wings of Butterfly’, a song about ‘asking for proof instead of promises’ according to vocalise Heather Duncan. Very much in the Beabadoobee or Soccer Mommy mould, it’s a fresh slice of dreamy pop with gently lilting melodies and melancholic elements: ‘If you’re here to stay, can’t you…
Stoke-on-Trent’s art punks Formal Sppeedwear have shared ‘Who Needs Spain Ball?’ ahead of the release of their debut album ‘Punch Card’ via Melodic on 11 September, 2026. Wonderfully wiry and angular, the song sounds somewhat akin to David Byrne jamming with Dutch Uncles – while XTC grapple for overall creative control from the other side…
Wild Pink have shared ‘Round of Applause at the End of the World’ ahead of the release of new album ‘Still Coming Down’ via Fire Talk on 21 August, 2026. Filled with shredding slackepop riffs, self-deprecation and a dose of black humour – ‘I don’t know what my idea of fun is anymore’ – this…
Spectral Nights favourites Tugboat Captain have returned with ‘Us & the Moon’. The song will feature on the band’s forthcoming album ‘All at Once’, which is set to be released on 17 June, 2026. Capturing the introspective thoughts that come with a night-time stroll through South London, the song veers between gentle Efterklang-style chamber-pop experimentation…
Cardiff”s finest art punks Panic Shack have returned with ‘Grin & Bear It’, the band’s first new material since the release of their self-titled debut album last year. Taking aim at the mundanity (and harshness) of the gig economy and the unfair narrative that artists should suffer, it’s a gritty riff-laden piece that also manages…
Man/Woman/Chainsaw have shared the brilliantly titled ‘Goddamn, Lizard Man!’ ahead of their eagerly anticipated debut album ‘Cannonball’ (out on 7 August, 2026 via Fiction Records). The first song released from the album to feature Billy Ward on lead vocals, the gritty track takes a ‘look at the kind of slimy, manipulative magnetism people can carry…
Ezra Collective have made a welcome return with ‘Only Love’, the first song to be taken from their upcoming fourth studio album ‘Here Because of Hope’ (released on 18 September, 2026 via Partisan Records). With a bassline and drumbeat inspired by West African and Gambian music, Pa talks through some of the most powerful moments…
Galway-born singer/songwriter Oisin Mod has shared new single ‘Mirror Mirror’, his first new material since his 2022 debut album ‘Honeycomb’. Once again produced by Bill Ryder-Jones, the song is ‘about pretending and observing others doing the same. It’s looking over your shoulder while talking to you in search of a better option…’ With a touch…
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