Tag: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Weird Nightmare Returns with Syrupy and Anthemic “Buzzing in My Head”

Earlier this year, longtime METZ frontman Alex Edkins released his Jim Eno co-produced sophomore Weird Nightmare effort, Hoopla through  Sub Pop globally and Dine Alone Records in Canada,

Hoopla sees the Toronto-based JOVM mainstay mixing and matching the wide ranging influences of his time slinging indie rock and hardcore records at his hometown record store while attending university — namely 60s psych rock to 1990s DIY and beyond — in fun, unexpectedly exhilarating combinations, showcasing his sophisticated musical mind, while further cementing his unerring knack for crafting ridiculously catchy, and rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses.

Recorded at Providence‘s world famous Machines With Magnets, Hoopla also sees the acclaimed Canadian artist expanding upon Weird Nightmare’s musical palette with the addition of piano, bells and castanets, which give his long-held straightforward songwriting a shiny luster. 

The album features album tracks “Forever Elsewhere,” the Cheap Trick-like “Might See You There,” the punchy punk rock-like “Pay No Mind,” and the earnest and yearning “Where I Belong.” Today, Edkins shared the first bit of new material from Weird Nightmare since the release of Hoopla, the Graham Walsh-produced “Buzzing in My Head.” “Buzzing in My Head” is a syrupy sweet, hooky and rousingly anthemic power pop tune rooted in a unfussy, you-were-there-with-the-band-like production and Edkins earnest, seemingly lived-in lyrics. The track features a backing band of Loel Campbell (drums), Matthew Kuester (bass) continuing their ongoing collaboration, which included Hoopla.

Edkins says of the new single, “‘Buzzing in My Head’ is about that one person/place/thing/memory/experience that never really leaves your waking mind. It says with you to the point of distraction and overwhelms your ability to complete menial tasks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sinkane Teams Up with Mdou Moctar on Breezy, Ebullient “So It Goes”

Ahmed Gallab, best known as Sinkane will be releasing his sixth album, He’s Gone on February 26, 2027 through City Slang. Entirely self-produced, engineered and mixed by Gallab, the album features collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Mdou Moctar, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Annie & The Caldwells.

Whereas 2024’s We Belong was an exuberant communal effort, conceived as a love letter to Black music and made with a large cast of collaborators, He’s Gone takes a different approach: Written after the death of his father, the album reflects on grief and how it surfaces in memory, faith and family. The forthcoming album sees Gallab allowing himself to sit in the discomfort of loss without letting it consume him. The album begins with the Istirjāʿ from the Qur’an: “Indeed to God, we belong and to Him we return” — words of surrender and faith traditionally spoken upon hearing of a death. And from there, the album follows grief not as a straight line towards resolution, but something unruly and at times, unpredictable. It disappears and returns — sometimes at the most inopportune and strangest times. It changes shape. It can coexist with joy, movement, love, and a deep groove.

Since the release of We Belong, Gallab followed in his parents’ footsteps, becoming a university professor, teaching music appreciation, theory and songwriting. And while making the record, he found himself inadvertently following his father. At the core of He’s Gone is the things we’ve inherited without noticing — the gestures and ideas that survive people; the moment when grief reveals that someone who has departed is still very much present in the way you think, work, teach, listen or even more through the world.

The album’s cover art features Ibrahim El-Salahi’s celebrated painting Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams I, used with the permission of The Tate and the artist’s family. El-Salahi, was not only one of the defining figures of modern Sudanese art, he was also a friend of Gallab’s father, continuing to add to the album’s overall themes of memory, family, history and the like.

“Making the record gave me permission to grieve and, eventually, became a kind of catharsis,” Gallab says of the album. “I thought I was making an album about losing my father. Instead, I started finding him and, ultimately, myself.”

Arguably one of Gallab’s most personal albums to date, the album sees him blending Sudanese pop, West African music, dub and Brazilian and Caribbean influences. The album’s first single “So It Goes.” feat. Mdou Moctar derives its title from the refrain that follows every death in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, drawing from the novel’s central premise that all moments in time exist simultaneously, making death only one moment among countless others in a person’s existence.

Sonically featuring a strutting groove, skittering beats and stabs of shimmering keys, “So It Goes” is a breezy and ebullient blend of Afrobeats, Eastern African music, dancehall and contemporary pop beneath Gallab’s breathy falsetto. Mdou Moctar contributes a woozy and expressive guitar solo fed through layers of distortion and haze.

“After my father died, I found that strangely comforting. Maybe being gone doesn’t mean every version of you is gone,” Gallab says.  “I wanted the song to feel like an East African psychedelic fever dream. “I asked Mdou Moctar to play the guitar solo, and he took it somewhere wonderfully unexpected.” The song gradually swells with a brightening sense of optimism and acceptance, viewing death as but a small part of a life. And it’s all underpinned by the joy of knowing that person was — and still is — a key part of your life.

“There’s something beautiful about a song about death feeling so full of life,” he adds.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sweden’s Menderbug Shares Shimmering “Swallowed Flame”

Swedish indie rock duo Menderbug specializes in a sound that draws from shoegaze, slowcore, 90s emo and a bit of post rock and pot punk. But at the core of their work is a distinctly Swedish sense of melancholy: In a country where winters seem to stretch forever and daylight can feel like a distant memory, some of that darkness will inevitably find its way into both the music and lyrics.

Sonically, fragile, almost whispered vocals drift through layers of distorted guitars while driving bass lines and restless rhythms give the music a propulsive sense of movement.

Fragile, almost whispered vocals drift through layers of distorted guitars, while driving basslines and restless drums give the music a sense of movement. Some songs lean into the quiet desolation of slowcore, others carry the emotional weight and melodic urgency of 90s emo, while darker moments venture into the heavier, noisier textures of blackgaze.

The duo tends to work quickly and intuitively, allowing songs to take shape without overthinking their overall direction. The aim is to preserve as much of the feeling that made want to write in the first place, rather than polishing away the imperfections and feeling at the core of the song.

Thematically, much of Swedish duo’s work explores the quieter form of human struggle: the distance between people, the feeling of being alone in a crowd, and the sense of not quite belonging anywhere.

Their sophomore EP, Fading Signs was released last Friday and follows their debut EP, Falling Voices, which was released earlier this year with both EPs being part of a planned trilogy. Throughout each of the EPs, there’s a loosely connected theme of things slowly slipping away — voices fading, traces disappearing, and the quiet realization that something once familiar is no long there. What’s been lost isn’t entirely clear, and perhaps that’s up to the listener’s interpretation.

Fading Signs EP‘s latest single “Swallowed Flame” is a seamless blend of emo, post punk and shoegaze featuring shifting yet propulsive rhythms and distorted, chiming guitars that’s melancholy while conveying an unease and hurt creeping just below the surface, much like a bruise.

“It’s about something burning quietly beneath the surface. A pain without a name, something that slowly becomes a part of you,”
the Swedish duo explain. “The strange feeling of moving forward while something inside remains exactly where it was.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: School of X Shares Breezy, Deceptively Sunny “Exist”

Rasmus Littauer is a Copenhagen-based producer, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind of indie pop project School of X. School of X derives its name from Ekskole, Copenhagen’s anti-establishment, experimental art school. which featured Warhol collaborator Jørgen Leth, art historian Troels Anderson and artists Poul Gernes and Per Kirkeby. “It was about learning from each other and being progressive,” Littauer explains. “There were no labels — anyone could join. That philosophy is so cool and I really admire all those artists.” 

Inspired by Ekskole’s ethos, Littauer created a collective with a similar ethos: Over the past decade, the Copenhagen-based artist has worked with Liss, MØ, Clairo, Deb Never as a producer, songwriter or musician — and as School of X, Littauer has collaborated with Half Waif’s and Empress Of‘s Spencer Zahn, Hinds‘ Anna Perrote, Lord Siva. Soleima and JOVM mainstay Trentemøller.

He also runs a studio in Copenhagen’s Nørrebro District with friend, collaborator and fellow producer Vera.

The Danish artist’s fifth album, 2024’s Seventh Heaven was released to widespread critical praise. Building upon a growing national and international profile, Littauer’s self-titled, sixth album is slated for a January 8, 2027 release through No3. The album will include the perviously released “Not Enough Time,” and the album’s second and latest single “Exist.” “Exist” is a breezy tune, anchored around a hooky acoustic guitar-driven arrangement paired with Littauer’s sunny, downright bright delivery. But at its core, the song’s optimism is actually deceptive as the song’s narrator openly talks about suffering from regret and delusions — with both an unvarnished honesty and the hope of being able to change. ‘

“It’s a song about suffering from delusions and the anxiety that inevitably comes with them, while doing everything you can to function in the world,” Littauer explains. “For me, it has been about feeling persecuted. At times, it it became so extreme, that I thought it would kill me. That’s also why ’Exist’ is a small miracle, because I wrote it at a time when I was at my lowest.”

“Love and family are what ultimately prevail. People who lift you up and can be a source of pure life energy, giving you a new perspective on how to find your way back and move forward,” Littauer says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Ironsides Share Sweepingly Cinematic “Passing Glance”

Led by Max Ramey (production, bass) and Joe Ramey (production, saxophone), and featuring members of JOVM mainstay act Monophonics, as well as a collection of some of the best Bay Area-based players, The Ironsides have specialized in a […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: L’Eclair Returns with Slow Burning, Mind-bending “Dunes”

Bulgarian-born, Geneva-based brothers Stef (guitar, keys) and Yavor Lilov (drums) were shaped in a myriad of unseen ways by the centuries-old folk music that filtered through their daily lives. It helped mold their creative spirit and inspired them to make music together at a young age — and that unique and intuitive alchemy has been a foundation of their acclaimed, JOVM mainstay act L’Eclair, which they formed a decade ago.

Their newest EP, Echo was released today through Innovative Leisure. Self-produced by Stef and Yavor Lilov, Echo EP reportedly finds the acclaimed Swiss outfit once again pushing their endlessly elastic approach to rhythm, texture and groove while continuing to occupy their own peculiar corner of the dance floor. where hypnotic repetition gives way to unexpected detours, locked-in rhythms collide with warped electronics, and vintage textures meet a modern sense of space. The result is another playful, exploratory chapter from a band that has spent the better part of a decade proving that groove can be both a destination and a way of getting wonderfully, deliriously lost.

The EP also introduces some new additions to the studio lineup — James Iwa (bass), Panji Bharata (synth) and Eduardo Silva Fuentes (percussion).

Echo EP features the previously released “Excelsior,” a song that the band had been playing during live sets over the past year, and the album’s latest single “Dunes.” Subtly channelling some of their earlier efforts — i.e., 2018’s Polymood, 2019’s Sauropoda and 2020’s Noshtta — may be their most guitar-driven composition in a couple of years: Beginning with a gently droning tanpura-like sample woven around acoustic guitar, “Dunes” slowly unfolds into a mind-bending, psilocybin-fueled groove, anchored by a strutting five-song bass line paired with some laconic yet bluesy guitar solo. It’s a song that further cements their reputation for crafting material that’s simultaneously perfect for lazy afternoons and evenings at home — or for lifting off into the stratosphere.

L’Eclair explain, ““Dunes” marks our return to a more guitar-driven sound. It’s a thread that we explore throughout the entire Echo EP. The track highlights our ability to explore and blend genres, creating deep, mystical soundscapes equally suited for the dancefloor or a trip from the comfort of your couch.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: IFULKI Shares Uplifting and Empowering “Moment”

London-based trio IFULKI features musicians shaped by a culture of improvisation, openness and collaboration:

  • Queen Kaltoun, a Moroccan-Italian vocalist, who relocated to London when she was 189 to pursue a career in music

  • Charlie, an English-born bassist and synth player with Irish and Ghanian roots

  • Ayman, a Sudanese drummer and percussionist

Each member of the trio have spent years performing across London’s live music circuit, playing sets at Ronnie Scott’s, Jazz Cafe and Village Underground and a long list of others, while collaboration with a collection of boundary-pushing artists including David Mrakpor, Rebekah Reid, Mei Kirby, Ayo Salawu, Arowah, Tay Grace, and NK-OK.

The London-based trio have quickly established a unique blend of Gnawa inferences, electronic textures and live instrumentation helps to create a sound that’s deeply rooted in ancient traditions while being remarkably modern. Rather than remaining within the boundaries of jazz, the project for the trio became the meeting point of everything the inspired them — the freedom of improvisation, the emotional depth of electronic music, trip-hop and soul, and the philosophy of Queen Kaltoum’s Amazigh heritage.

Driven by spacious electronics, hypnotic rhythms and deeply instinctive interplay between the trio, the band’s music consistently prioritizes deep feeling over sterling perfection. That philosophy stems directly from their name: “‘Ifulki’ means ‘beautiful’ in the Amazigh language,” Queen Kaltoum shares. “It’s a celebration of the beautiful people and beautiful connections we encounter in this life. I’m Moroccan, and I come from the Amazigh people, an Indigenous people from North Africa. I want to pay homage to my ancestors. They’ve carried such a strong sense of community through generations, and that’s something I want to celebrate.”

For Queen Kaltoum beauty isn’t something superficial. Beauty exists in kindness, generosity, solidarity and the relationships we build and maintain with each other. Those values, which are deeply embedded within Amazigh culture, quietly shape every aspect of the emerging London-based trio’s creative vision — one, ultimately born, as Queen Kaltoum says, “from a need to bring people together.”

The rising London-based trio’s debut EP Something Greater is slated for a December 4, 2026 through [PIAS]’s new imprint SOURCE. The EP will feature the previously released EP title track “Something Greater,” and the EP’s latest single “Moment.” Built around a strutting and irresistible bass line, skittering hi-hats and atmospheric synths, “Moment” is a seamless blend of soul, trip hop and dance music rooted in a urgent, empowering message about calming one’s space and embracing the present with an unapologetic confidence delivered by an equally powerful vocal. In tone and message, the new single nods a bit of Aretha Franklin’s 1994 cover of C+C Music Factory’s “Pride (A Deeper Love).” But at its core, the result is a much-needed blast of affirmation and uplift — and a reminder that you can’t let anyone dim your shine, ever.

 The track is a call to recognise your moment when it arrives and refuse to let it pass you by,'” IFULKI’s Queen Kaltoum explains. “It’s about claiming your space, pushing through resistance and refusing to let anyone diminish what you’re building. At its heart, though, ‘Moment’ is also a reminder that strength doesn’t have to be solitary: sometimes, the right people beside you make all the difference.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Ghost Funk Orchestra Shares Meditative and Introspective “A Hell Below”

Led by composer, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind Seth Applebaum, the New York-based psych soul outfit and JOVM mainstay act Ghost Funk Orchestra will be releasing their fifth album, Yours in The Ranks of Death through Karma Chief Records on December 4, 2026.

Reflective and ethereal, the JOVM mainstays’ fifth album reportedly finds Applebuam pairing down the sounds and conceptual underpinnings, providing his signature trippy grooves and cinematic arrangements a much cleaner pocket.

Yours is The Ranks of Death will include “Ocotillo,” which features Julia Zivic on lead vocals; “Yours” and “Leave Me Alone,” which feature Camellia Hartman on lead vocals; and the album’s latest single “A Hell Below,” which features longtime collaborator, Megan Mancini on lead vocals. Arguably one of the more introspective songs in the JOVM mainstays’ growing catalog, “A Hell Below” features a sparse arrangement of atmospheric and twinkling keys and strutting funk guitar. The production puts the jazzy drum pattern and Mancini’s vocal, singing with — and about — yearning for a past that seemed far simpler.

The song is rooted in the bittersweet, rose-colored nostalgia informed by getting older, of having more complicated responsibilities and obligations, of “growing up” in a world on fire, of the realization that you’ve also fucked things up royally and still have shit to learn.

As the band explains “A Hell Below” is a song about uncertainty; an ode to daydreaming about what might be missing in your life.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The House Flies Share Broodingly Cinematic “Lost Literature”

Moline, IL-based post punk/goth outfit The House Flies — Alex Riggen (vocals, guitar), Burnie Eckhardt (guitar), Ozzie Woods (bass) and Nick Pompou (drums) — will be releasing their sophomore album Lions and Ore on Friday through Wilhelm & Sons Entertainment Company.

The seven-song Lions and Ore reportedly sees the Moline-based band building on their post-punk and goth foundation with longer arrangements, more space between the material’s quieter passages and heavier guitar passages. Recurring images of houses, fields, heat, sleep and things left behind give the album’s song a shared setting without actually fixing them to a single story.

Recorded in Riggen’s basement, the album marks the first recorded output to feature Burnie Eckhardt and was mixed by Ross Mixes and mastered by Micheal Briggs.

Seemingly nodding at The Psychedelic Furs, New Order, and Depeche Mode, Lion and Ore‘s latest single “Lost Literature” is a broodingly cinematic tune anchored around thumping 808-styled beats, a glistening and soaring string-sample paired with Riggen’s expressive vocal. The song evokes late night drives on a summer night with the window open, the smell of trees and dew in the air, and something left unspoken.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: 50/50 Shares Bouncy “Just Can’t Win”

Archival label Light in the Attic will be presenting the work of 50/50, a wildly prolific and talented British pop duo finally poised to get their due — nearly half a century after their inception. Formed back in the late 70s, 50/50 was the studio project of Richard Haines and David Cowlees, whose unique blend of irresistible synth-forward pop and classic 60s British songwriting with thoughtful, imaginative lyricism should have propelled to the top of the charts — and to be household names. Instead, due to a variety of circumstances beyond their control, they never received the promotion or attention they deserved.

Drawn from a trove of more than 150 recordings made between 1979 and 1985, Memories Linger will be the British duo’s first-ever studio album, introducing the act through 12 songs — of which were previously unreleased. Slated for a December 4, 2026 vinyl and digital release, Memories Linger was newly mastered by multi-Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin and will include a wealth of archival imagery and photos from Cowles’ and Haines’ personal collections, along with new liner notes by London-based broadcaster and writer Charles Donovan. Designed by Darryl Norsen, the LP edition will feature a 12-page booklet.

The story of 50/50 is, at its core, about a deep and abiding friendship — one forged in the late 70s between multi-instrumentalist Richard Haines and vocalist David Cowles during informal jam sessional a Reigate, Surrey, UK-based studio. Along with a love of 60s and 70s rock, the pair shared a keen interest in the era’s evolving electronic instrumentation and the emerging sounds of synth pop and New Wave. By the start of the 80s, they settled into a comfortable songwriting partnership. calling themselves 50/50. The name, writes Charles Donovan, “worked on multiple levels, reflecting the democratic split of the songwriting partnership but also the friendship [and] its qualities of support.” 

While both men maintained successful careers — Cowles is in real estate and Haines in AV — and were busy with their young families, they dedicated several nights a week to writing and making music. “The sheer joy of Dave and I coming up with music in my studio was fantastic,” recalls Haines. Working with an array of synthesizers including the Korg Micro-Preset and Korg Polysix, the duo settled on their sound. “You can hear the different threads of the pair’s diverse influences—from prog to rock, singer/songwriter to synth-pop—coming together to form a singular and distinctive fabric,” Donovan notes. “David’s crisp, imaginative lyrics…[and] Richard’s intricate music—sometimes bright and uptempo, but just as often haunting and coolly mysterious—evokes an array of moods. It’s the perfect partnership.”

With the encouragement of Genesis manager Tony Smith, the duo continued their songwriting and in 1982 signed a publishing deal with Bocu Music, the then-home of ABBA, Colin Bluestone and Johnny Logan. There, the duo released a handful of singles including 1982’s “Memories Linger”/”Just Can’t Win,” and 1983’s “Talk Too Much”/”I Saw The Future.” But they repeatedly ran into creative differences with producers and often found themselves unsatisfied with the final masters. Despite positive feedback from industry heavyweights and the press, as well as several high-profile writing opportunities, the duo struggled mightily to gain a foothold. By 1985, after a string of frustrating setbacks, their musical ambitions were somewhat thwarted, but their friendship continued.

More than 150 recordings sat unheard for decades. In the subsequent years that followed, encouraged by their grown children, Haines and Cowles sought to regain control of their work. A 2024 Record Collector article featuring the duo caught the attention of US-based writer Mike Sacks, who then reached out to Light In The Attic founder and co-owner Matt Sullivan, who was immediately taken with 50/50’s music, eventually leading to the December release of their first-ever album — a thoughtfully sequenced collection of 12 songs written over the course of their musical career, and produced exactly as they intended.

Currently Haines runs a successful, East Sussex-based photo restoration business while the Isle of Wight-based Cowles is a retired hotelier. But thanks to the renewed attention on the 50/50, the longtime friends have returned to the studio together for the first time in decades. And yet, the memories of their heyday remain among their most cherished.

“Dave and I had something incredibly special going on,” says Haines. “Yes we worked hard up in my studio but above all we had the most fun, the biggest laughs and the best friendship which led to magic happening. Dave and I have always believed so strongly in the songs we created and are hugely proud of our body of work.”

Cowles adds, “Before I met Richard I was in a very dark place and I hate to think where I would be now if our paths hadn’t crossed. Much of our music was created during those difficult times. I believe that due to his kindness, friendship and, most of all, amazing musical ability, we have produced this stunning body of work. We are still sifting through ideas we recorded some 45 years ago with as much enthusiasm now as we had then. The only difference now is I can honestly say I’ve found a lifelong friend and soulmate.”

Memories Linger will include the previously released album title track, “Memories Linger” and the album’s second and latest single “Just Can’t Win.” Originally recorded back in 1981, “Just Can’t Win” is anchored around glistening synth oscillations, a bouncy yet motorik-like bass line and atmospheric electronics, beneath Cowles’ Mark Mothersbaugh-like delivery. To my ears, the new single brings Freedom of Choice-era DEVO, Trans Europe Express and Computer World-era Krafttwerk and the like to mind, while continuing to showcase what should have made them much bigger — their seemingly effortless craftsmanship.

“Just Can’t Wait” was recently featured on FX’s The Shards, adding to the growing attention surrounding the upcoming release of their long-awaited debut.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bel Cardin Shares Lo-Fi, Earnest “Decoy”

22-year old Bel Cardin is an emerging, Raleigh-born and-based singer/songwriter. Coming from a family of music lovers, the young North Carolinian can trace the origins of their music career to when they picked up the guitar at 13. Raised on Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and Elliott Smith, Cardin later fell in love with a collection of artists that emerged in the 2010s, drawing from those artists’ penchant for melodic and crisp guitar, slightly ambiguous song structures and meticulous lyrical imagery. 

Cardin’s debut, 2023’s 10-song Petrify was a melancholy, guitar-driven batch of songs recorded at their college campus’ music studio. 

The North Carolina-based artist’s latest single “Decoy” is a bit of a lo-fi and grungier take on Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea-era PJ Harvey anchored around a classic grunge song structure — alternating quiet verses and loud, rousingly anthemic, power chord-driven choruses — paired with earnest, seemingly lived-in lyrics.

Cardin explains that “Decoy” is “about a sense of self that is defined solely by the relationships in your life. When those are fleeting, so is one’s self worth. But it also can create a lot of gratification all at once when those relationships are at their best, which is why it’s so hard to chance when you get into that cycle. This song explores the dimensions of that experience, specifically through the lens of grief. I wrote the lyrics a couple years ago and it’s been interesting creating the rest of the composition and reflecting on how I’ve changed since then when it comes to this way of living. I really enjoyed working on it and I’m super happy with how it turned out.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sara Diana Shares Dance Floor Friendly “Phantom”

Sara Diana is a 20-year old, Miami-based singer/songwriter whose work sees her pair poetic storytelling, raw emotion and powerhouse vocals with lush, atmospheric pop productions. Her debut EP, 2024’s Tracksion and Camilo Velandia-co-produced Can’t Be Fazed explored themes of love, growth, survival, invincibility and self-discovery.

Fittingly released on Halloween, her latest single “Phantom” is a sleek and slickly produced bit of pop featuring glistening, horror-like arpeggiated synths and twitter and woofer rattling beats beneath Sara Diana’s powerhouse delivery. Arguably one of the most dance floor friendly songs of the young artist’s growing catalog, “Phantom” is a blend of Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” and 90s EDM and dance pop that sounds remarkably modern.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Darkwater and Stars Share Expansive and Deeply Personal “Only Human”

Florida-based alternative rock act Darkwater and Stars can trace its origins to when frontperson and multi-instrumentalist Melissa Griffin started the project as a solo recording project that showcased genre-bending exploration of darkwave, post-punk, blues, shoegaze […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Germany’s LORNING Tackles The Cure’s “Primary”

Currently split between Berlin, Leipzig, and Potsdam, German post punk outfit LORNING — founding member Christopher Heinze (vocals), Thomas Gumprecht (guitar), Rajko Gohlke (bass), Tobais Hermann (synths) and Konrad Ruda (samples, effects) — is the vision of Leipzig-based musician and German studies scholar Christopher Heinze. With the release of last year’s full-length debut Other Void, Other Rooms and a handful of standalone singles, the German outfit quickly established a sound that defies genre-boundaries and is a blend of NDW (New German Wave), electro punk, dark wave, post-punk, EBM and industrial that’s specifically crafted to be an invitation to dance in the dark.

Aesthetically, the German band sees themselves as a sonic construct that doesn’t merely illustrate existential themes like isolation, inner turmoil, depression, a sense of being lost and equally of hope, dreams of life –but rather lives through them. The band’s debut album was informed by Heinze’s background in German studies with lyrics inspired by existential post-war literature. They describe their music as a sort of secret soundtrack for those who live between the notes.

Their latest single “Primary” is a breakneck anthem that to my ears sounds a bit like a blend of The Psychedelic Furs and The Damned while capturing the spirit and vibe of the original Cure tune.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sandhouse Shares Atmospheric “Into Nothing”

Rising London-based indie duo Sandhouse — Anna Sutherland and Casper Holloway — have developed a musical language that comes from a wide-ranging exchange: The duo first bonded over dance music, soul and Arthur Russell, and still spend much of their studio time playing music together. Their ambition is to make guitar music that carries the feelings they find in hyperpop, rap, soul, dance music and film soundtracks. “A lot of our process is creating a powerful sound and then trying to figure out how to make it human, or find the complexity within it,” they explain. “Or creating something very vulnerable and then adding the power to it.” 

Sandhouse’s debut EP, last year’s Circus has amassed over 5 million streams on Spotify while subsequent singles have received press from The Line of Best Fit, DIY Magazine, Rolling Stone UK, Dork Magazine, Under The Radar, The New Cue and others, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing, where they had a single named “Track of the Week,” Adding to a growing profile across the region, the band has built a reputation as a must-see live act, playing sold-out headlining shows at London’s Corsica Studios, The Lexington and Peckham Audio, along with opening slots and tours with Dove Ellis, PORIJ, she’s green, MOULD, swim school, Bleach Lab, and Panic Shack.

The rising London duo’s sophomore. Casper Holloway-produced EP Pollyanna was released today through Broke Records. The EP’s title is derived from Eleanor H. Porter’s optimistic heroine, while exploring the impulse to keep believing in someone despite mounting reasons not to. For the duo’s Anna Sutherland, writing became a way to take back control of experiences that had left her feeling powerless, shaping the material’s lyrics and her vocal performances. “Writing this music was part of a healing process and a way to untangle all the complicated feelings that arise from escaping from a terrible situation,” the duo’s Anna Sutherland explains.

She adds, “We often talk about the songs being spells or me having magical powers. For the vocal recording for parts of the EP, I imagined I was a giant monster that was part woman part crow when I stepped up to the microphone.” Reading Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” and accounts of succubi and sirens, alongside conversations about Fullmetal Alchemist fed into that imagination. Across Pollyanna, the desire to disappear into romance sits alongside the urge to become something powerful enough to escape it.

Much of the EP was written and recorded across the last half of 2024 and early this year. EP title track “Pollyanna” and “Into Nothing” emerged during a writing retreat on an estuary in Suffolk, UK with Jay Flew with further sessions taking place at Sandhouse’s studios and alongside Ben Hillier in Lewes, UK. The EP features Joel Kovoor (drums) and Anthony Boatright (bass) on EP tracks “Snapdragon” and “Gasoline” while Ben Beed appears on “Pollyanna” and “Into Nothing.” Jake Burgess (lead guitar, tape machine and contact-mic experimentation) contributes to “Into Nothing.”

Sonically, the EP sees the band pairing warped indie rock with surreal, visceral imagery, grunge-inspired guitars, bleary trip-hop production, warped psychedelia and nocturnal alt-pop and Sutherland’s seductive yet darkly playful lyrics.

Pollyanna EP‘s latest single “Into Nothing” is a slow-burning tune that’s a woozy blend of trip hop, shoegazer textures and alt pop paired with Sutherland’s yearning delivery. Thematically, the song explores what can be lot in the pursuit of an idealized version of yourself. The duo’s Sutherland says, “‘Into Nothing’ is about the performance of modern beauty, and the self-reduction that occurs in order to conform.”

The duo has a handful of live dates, including an appearance at this year’s London Calling. Check out tour dates below.