Song of the Day: A double set of titular pairs from the Netherlands singer-songwriter, whose style is a beautifully eerie and ethereal, silky voiced indie pop. Her EP This Is Not.A Democracy, out on AT EASE, is due for release in September
Read moreBright Eyes: Mariana Trench
From the cover art of Bright Eyes’ new album Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
Song of the Day: Delving deep into natural disasters, mass surveillance and the extreme relief of humanity’s tiny place in a much bigger planetary history, this single comes from the first new Bright Eyes album for a decade, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
Read moreBill Callahan: Pigeons
Bill Callahan
Song of the Day: With beautifully wry and drily performed lyrics, and taken from the forthcoming mischievously titled album Gold Record, this new song from the Smog artist is about a limo driver advising newlyweds, and cheekily namechecks two other songwriting greats
Read moreThis Is The Kit – This Is What You Did
This Is The Kit’s new single, taken from the forthcoming album Off Off On out on Rough Trade
Song of the Day: Wonderfully sprightly acoustic new single by the band fronted by British artist Kate Staples. The finger-picked banjo and clever lyrical structure captures a growing feeling of panic and directionless blame
Read moreThe Just Joans: Holiday / Wee Guys (Bobby's Got A Punctured Lung)
David and Katie Pope from The Just Joans (Photo by Allan Whyte)
Song of the Day: Two brilliantly delivered, drily humorous tracks by the Glaswegian band from their most recent album, focusing on the paradox of suffocating city summer life, and insecure youths kicking off into mindless violence
Read moreD. McCabe – The Final Curtain
D. McCabe’s The Final Curtain single
Song of the Day: A fantastic blend of indie, psychedelia and electronica written, performed and produced by the Dublin multi-instrumentalist includes rolling drums, building to a crescendo of piano, exotic chants and remorseless, mysterious dread
Read moreCult Figures – Lights Out
Cult Figures’ latest EP
Song of the Day: A life-affirming, survival-craving postpunk belter from the latest EP of veteran band who, as contemporaries of the likes of Subway Sect and Wire, first released singles in 1979 and 1980
Read moreSilverbacks – Muted Gold
Silverbacks
Song of the Day: Crisp, staccato, spiky guitar, taut rhythms, wry, humorous lyrics and an energetic, playful delivery typify this and other songs from the Dublin indie five-piece’s forthcoming album, Fad, out in July
Read moreLaura Veirs – I Was A Fool
Laura Veirs - achingly beautiful response to heartbreak
Song of the Day: Following Brigid Dawson’s track, The Fool, a recent, hauntingly beautiful but powerful heartbreak track from the American singer-songwriter about her split from husband and producer Tucker Martine
Read moreFontaines D.C. – A Hero's Death
Fontaines D.C. with actor Aiden Gillen playing the chatshow host in the video for A Hero’s Death
Song of the Day: New single from the acclaimed postpunk Dublin band is described as a positive “list of rules for the self'“, but like the wonderful video starring actor Aiden Gillen as TV chatshow host, its riffs mimic an underlying sense of dread, perhaps parodying the life of a band on the up
Read moreTalk Show – Stress
The cover of the EP These People, by Talk Show
Song of the Day: Powerful, punchy new indie postpunk track from the band based in south-east London, with a definite northern English twang, and a sound reminiscent of Echo and the Bunnymen, Teenage Fanclub and New Order
Read moreLow Hummer – The Real Thing
Low Hummer
Song of the Day: Terrifically catchy electronica indie with a big rock guitar chorus and deadpan delivery by the quintet from Hull, sounding like a fusion of The Pixies and The Human League, carrying that bright torch of Yorkshire-born pop music
Read moreJack Cheshire – Tunnel Vision
Alternative visions: Jack Cheshire
Song of the Day: Alluringly atmospheric with a driving rhythm, this new indie psych number by the London-based multi-instrumentalist is all about balancing a positive view and keeping focus within dark times, inspired by a quote from Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci
Read moreThe Nightingales – The Top Shelf
Cover of the new Nightingales album, out in May
Song of the Day: A belter of a new song from Birmingham’s truly great independent postpunk band. Fronted by founder singer and lyricist Robert Lloyd, ironic twists of fate come with fabulous riffs, pace and rhythm changes and cross-tangled narratives
Read moreDeeper – This Heat
Deeper …
Song of the Day: Created before the Covid-19 outbreak, this strangely topical song by the Chicago postpunk quartet from their new album Auto-Pain, has a fabulously sharp, driving guitar and vocal energy reminiscent of The Cure, New Order and Pavement
Read moreJeffrey Lewis – Chillin' In The East Vill
The ever sharp and prolific Jeffrey Lewis
Song of the Day: Who better, and who indeed has written such a nailed-on brilliant song about coronavirus lockdown than the super-sharp lyricist, prolific songwriter and comic book artist from New York’s Lower East Village?
Read moreJacqueline Tucci – Fear
From the video for Fear by Jacquelin Tucci
Song of the Day: Darkly humorous and quirky shoegaze by the Toronto singer-songwriter about the fears and paranoias of modern life, especially in 2020, from her forthcoming debut EP – Jungle Sounds
Read moreThe Cool Greenhouse – The Sticks / London
The Sticks by The Cool Greenhouse
Song of the Day: The city or the sticks? A rock or a hard place? This first single from the forthcoming debut album and an older number marry driving krautrock, oddball psychedelia and echoes of The Fall with fabulous ironic humour and idiosyncratic, killer phrases
Read moreAttawalpa – Go To The Moon
Attawalpa – seeking elsewhere in a psychedelic bubble bath
Song of the Day: Seeking some existential escape? Then immerse yourself in this new, wonderfully otherworldly song by the Peruvian London-based artist whose work has echoes of Syd Barrett, from “a psychedelic bubble bath” EP
Read moreJockstrap – Acid
Jocksrap’s Taylor Skye and Georgia Ellery