Dead Ends sees Irish singer-songwriter Holly Munro reflect on a meditative experience that led to an inspirational moment of personal revelation. The official video for the track sees her revisit the windswept beachside location that played a such pivotal role in her life and the song.   The track feels deeply spiritual, echoes of Irish and European folk making their presence known in the rock nuances of the arrangement. Munro’s vocals steal the show however, blending a stillness in sound with a burning passion that is energising and very moving. Speaking about Dead Ends, Munro reveals ..read more

Davey Bell’s London-based outfit Rainsong hit the mark once again on the blistering yet fuzzy tones of Coma Baby. Its release is accompanied by another new track, andstartagain. Coma Baby / andstartagain by Rainsong Shoegaze dominates the arrangement, though the primary sound is a raw take on the genre; more Swervedriver or My Bloody Valentine than Slowdive. The vocals draw the song into a 00s rock aesthetic at times, but the overall energy of the song is dark and melodic. Coma Baby and previous Rainsong releases including 2023’s Lark EP can be downloaded on Bandcamp, and streamed o ..read more

A very clever and slightly scary video is just one highlight of Girl I Was, the latest single from Cornish musician Rosalie James. This slice of sublime and cathartic sadness will feature on her Full of Chemicals album. Play safe! Wonderfully crafted indie pop with an acerbic air to the lyrics, Girl I Was talks of love and hate over the course of a relationship. The lyrics are unflinchingly honest, not sparing the feelings of either protagonist, even as they rely on snapshots of what seem to be moments born from love or friendship. There’s a lot of the subtle, intense emotion of Sharon Van Et ..read more

Ahead of her 19th of April gig in Manchester, we caught up with Derby-based musician emzae. Her recent album All Those Things I Thought I Knew encompasses the rich tones of Lana Del Rey’s sweeping pop and the late-night electronica of Air and Broadcast, drenched with poise and sophistication; plus the occasional flurry of melancholia. Read on for some great advice for those just starting out making music! First up, could you tell us something about yourself? My real name is Emma, and my artist name is emzae. I am a pop singer-songwriter and producer, releasing independently via my label Zirco ..read more

Switching from the divine to the dissonant without missing a beat, Crypt Sustain by LA-based musician Tom Krell’s How To Dress Well is a wonderfully evocative taster for the project’s upcoming I Am Toward You album. I Am Toward You by How To Dress Well Crypt Sustain is awash with dreamy vocals and lush yet sharp guitars, skewed at times into darker terrain by hard electronic motifs. The vocals anchor the song, a human heart that remains a constant presence in the shifting tones and textures the track explores. I Am Toward You is the fifth album from How To Dress Well and is set for release on ..read more

The bright and pacey veneer of Kacey Fifield’s latest single Left Behind doesn’t obscure the emotional depth and resonance of a set of lyrics that feel deeply personal. The song features on her Nostalgia Haunts Me EP. The folk-oriented intro – comprising just vocals and acoustic guitar – soon expands and pivots into a more pop aesthetic, while all the while the vocals maintain a strong, commanding presence. I’m a sucker for a sad banger, and Left Behind is up there with the best of Robyn, Olivia Rodrigo, and Holly Humberstone.   Reveals Fifield about Left Behind, “I came up with the ide ..read more

Los Angeles based The Stolen Moans bring to mind the leftfield, dancey pop of The B-52’s and the raw rock energy of Wolf Alice and Dead Kennedys on their latest single Dada Catapult. It’s art, rock, and pop in one delirious package! Dada Catapult by The Stolen Moans Says the band about the track, which marries references to Dadaism with great rock licks and a memorable chorus, “Dada Catapult is a battle cry for those disillusioned by a world dominated by techno tyrants, championing art, love, and music as the ultimate arsenal against evil chaos.” “Dada Catapult is more than a song – it’s a ba ..read more

The light and looping feel of Anyway perfectly captures the dreamy, shoegaze-inspired sound of the Max Nunes helmed Sundaes. The song is something altogether different lyrically, but just as emotionally and sonically gripping. Anyway by Sundaes Anyway, which the band describes as “a ballad to frustration over wasted love and time” never lets the Beach House meets DIIV swirl of the guitar-focused arrangement get overwhelmed by the often-darker tones of the lyrics. Countering that, however, the pedal steel guitar and hazily defined combination of melody and vocals add a sense of melancholy to t ..read more

Todmorden’s mho is an active electronic musician, founder of the Todmorden Electronic Music Open Mic (EMOM). We caught up with mho – or Dave to his friends – as part of our ongoing Introducing series. blueprint by mho First up, could you tell us something about yourself as a musician? I’ve been doing stuff on the piano since I was about 11, but I had many more ideas in my head than I could possibly perform. So I started to build my own synthesisers, like the Transcendent 2000 and ETI string synth. To learn how to play them with computers I got a job in IT rather than music, as I would probably ..read more

Paris-based electronic duo Echoberyl set the scene wonderfully for their Through the Chaos album on new single Weird Boy. The song is accompanied by a suitably atmospheric video. Mood-driven dark electronica with a vocal performance that pivots from the glacial to the sensual, Weird Boy is blessed with a deceptively pacy melody and melancholic tone that gives it a beguiling 80s-style cachet. If you like Ladytron, S Y Z Y G Y X, or Mansfield.TYA, you really should be checking out Echoberyl. Says the band of the LP, “Through the Chaos is a journey into the twilight zone. Lost in the mist, we e ..read more