The new single from the Sad Club artist is a vividly drawn gem. Photo: Jody Evans | Words: Lloyd Bolton Kitty Fitz’ new single, ‘Laughing Stock,’ captures feeling at your lowest, but does so with such elegant lucidity. The London-based artist, signed to Sad Club Records and also known for her bass playing with Prima Queen and Lilo, has always put thoughtful songwriting at the heart of her work, and this track is among her strongest in that regard: “I’ve got nothing to give you man, just some leftover lust and the higher ground.” The words are propelled by a driving looping chord progression, s ..read more

Released via Brighton’s Crafting Room Recordings, his latest single grapples with familiar modern day anxieties incited by the increasingly erratic powers that be. Photo: Akos Szaro | Words: Hazel Blacher Undisputedly one of Brighton’s most thrilling live acts right now, the holistic experience of ELLiS.D (aka Ellis Dickson) is not dissimilar to the undulating throes of aircraft turbulence. Gripped by an urgency that extorts your guts to squirm ever closer to the surface of the throat, its immediacy hits you in a high-altitude jet stream of quivering post-punk, art-rock debauchery, rattling yo ..read more

Ahead of their free entry show with us at the Sebright Arms this weekend, we checked in with the Stoke-on-Trent band about experimentation, their home-built studio and their debut EP. Photo: Jacob Swetmore | Words: Lloyd Bolton Stoke-on-Trent band Formal Sppeedwear made a huge impression on us this year, their self-titled debut EP sounding like nothing else. While drawing on post-punk and industrial influences past and present, they infuse their work with their own unique style, informed in part by the sounds that come out of the home studio which they built themselves. They headline our summe ..read more

With its riotous, shout-along chorus and pop propulsion, the single is Kynsy’s most exciting release to date. Photo: Tatiana Pozuelo | Words: Lloyd Bolton Kynsy is back with new single, ‘Stereo Games.’ Having drawn high profile acclaim with her 2021 debut EP ‘Things That Don’t Exist,’ she has been a key one to watch for a number of years. This track steps up to another level; the sound of an artist ready to take the world by storm. Channelling the riotous fun of 90s indie with candied modern touches, the track has an irresistible singalong richness just right for the summer’s festivals. Wet Le ..read more

The band return with a brilliantly rageful and unpredictable single, encapsulating the chaos they do best. Photo: Sebastian Garraway | Words: Lloyd Bolton Plutoz Beach are a unique prospect, offering organised chaos pooled from a huge breadth of musical reference points. Their live sets always light up their regular haunts of The Windmill and The George Tavern, with the brash lawlessness of the music mirrored by its outlandish performance. The band’s wider prominence grew at the start of the year with a feature on the Slow Dance ’23 compilation and now they are back with a new single, ‘Nobody ..read more

Reworking two traditional songs, Alena seamlessly draws on the recent UK folk revival as she adapts these works with her own sound. Photo: Lara Laeverenz | Words: Brad Sked Returning with a reworking of two folk classics comes one of the country’s most promising and underrated artists: South London based Rosie Alena. Released via part-collective, part-label Broadside Hacks – which is home to releases from the likes of The New Eves, Milkweed and Goblin Band and which these days feels as important to the alternative folk scene in Britain as Speedy Wunderground has been to post-punk – Alena’s ret ..read more

Featuring members of Superorganism, Spirits of Saturn tap into a retrofuturist dream on new single ‘Space & Time.’ Words: Elvis Thirlwell Driven by Superorganism member Early Sans (great name), the 4th and latest single from Spirits of Saturn is an exquisite execution of retro-futuristic disco-synth boogie. With it’s lean Kraftwerk-esque arrangements, big beat 80s synth-pop and hollowed-out baritone – think The Human League, think Blancmange – ‘Space & Time taps into a bygone ‘Tomorrow’s World’ vision of utopian, synthetic futures, where jetbacks were around the corner, and it was ..read more

Gleefully unpredictable, the track is a maddening delight. Photo: Tim Haccius | Words: Lloyd Bolton Boil King have a hard-won cult status among their loyal subjects. Gigs are instantly memorable for the songs’ recurrent themes of crime as well as the musical juxtapositions: pop competing with chaos, ditties and ballads given equal footing. Their recent video for ‘Homer’ was similarly memorable in its profoundly disquieting cannibalisation of the Simpsons protagonist. Announcing their debut EP ‘Green Whitaker,’ which releases this Friday, new single ‘Minerva’ is appropriately strange yet addict ..read more

The York band talk influences, supporting Keg for their second gig and releasing debut single ‘Single Uncles.’ Words: Lloyd Bolton Needlework are the latest of a slew of great bands emerging from York right now. With sharp angularity and an eye for sharp observation, the band put their own fresh spin on the styles being forged by the likes of Keg, Bingo Fury and Black Country, New Road. They obviously have a lot to give as they evolve as a band… not least because they are still in 6th Form! They play gigs on school nights and last month put out debut single ‘Single Uncles.’ How did Needlework ..read more

The second single from the Cardiff band introduces two new voices to their signature warm sound. Words: Lloyd Bolton Cardiff five-piece Casual Smart are back with new single ‘Queen of Hearts.’ Following up debut release ‘It Doesn’t Get Any Easier,’ which caught our ear when the band made the Green Man Rising longlist, this new single once more shows their ability to craft intricately gentle songs around earnest feeling and warm instrumentation. Soft guitars float throughout, creating a fuzz commensurate with the naïve uncertainty expressed in the lyrics, “It hurts the same with every girl, but ..read more