Mali Mae examines family pressure and self-doubt on ‘Making Me Cry’
‘Making Me Cry’ is a restrained piece of alternative pop built around the difficult but familiar anxiety of the fear of disappointing the people closest to you. Mali Mae approaches that subject without overcomplicating it. The song focuses on the emotional strain of wanting to make family proud while privatelyContinue Reading
Brannen refines his melodic house sound on ‘Keep Dancing With Me’
‘Keep Dancing With Me’ finds Brannen developing the melodic house approach introduced on debut single ‘Tulips’ without making any unnecessary dramatic shifts. The track is built around the straightforward idea of recognising the value of a moment while it’s still happening. And that theme is reflected in an arrangement thatContinue Reading
Tarita lets a twenty-year-old song finally grow up on ‘The Death of Peter Pan’
There’s something almost too perfect about the fact that ‘The Death of Peter Pan’ spent nearly twenty years waiting to be released. Written when Tarita was around 21 and revived at 41, the song already carried a fascination with growing older, lost possibility and the distance between who we imagine we willContinue Reading
The Graceland Conspiracy find beauty in disorder on ‘We Are Chaos’
There’s an appealing sense of surrender at the heart of ‘We Are Chaos’. The Graceland Conspiracy aren’t interested in controlling every corner of the song. Instead, they let it drift, expand and gather meaning as it moves, creating something that feels like stepping into a half-lit world and allowing yourContinue Reading
Anthony Walker explores memory and uncertainty on ‘Unstoppable’
‘Unstoppable’ is a restrained introduction to Anthony Walker’s forthcoming album The Wind & The Witness, built around memory, longing and the difficulty of letting certain parts of the past fully disappear. The song begins in the half-light of a dive bar and gradually moves into more internal territory. Throughout, he treatsContinue Reading
Fernando’s Eyes pushes post-punk forward on the focused ‘Room On Fire’
As the first new material from Fernando Honorato’s solo project Fernando’s Eyes since 2025 album Center Of Your World, ‘Room On Fire’ feels like a sharpening of intent. The familiar post-punk darkness is still there, but everything has been tightened, stripped of excess and pushed firmly forward. Programmed drums lock againstContinue Reading
Matt Tarka turns media disillusionment into a sharp folk-rock broadside on ‘Letter to the Editor’
Matt Tarka has never seemed especially interested in writing around uncomfortable subjects, and ‘Letter to the Editor’ finds the Lancaster singer-songwriter at his most pointed. Built around his reaction to The Washington Post’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 election, the track channels political frustration into somethingContinue Reading
Conchis turns the pain of leaving into a dark electronic release on ‘It Will Only Hurt Once’
‘It Will Only Hurt Once’ begins in a state of pressure and seems determined to keep tightening the grip. The third single from Conchis’ forthcoming album Gravity finds the Finnish artist building a dense electronic backdrop around one of the most difficult moments in a failing relationship: recognising that walking away willContinue Reading
Devon Morris lets the mask slip on the disturbing ‘Let’s Talk’
‘Let’s Talk’ works because Devon Morris understands that obsession is most unsettling when it doesn’t announce itself immediately. The New York-based singer-songwriter builds the song around an unreliable narrator whose behaviour initially feels almost defensible. There’s concern, persistence and emotional urgency on the surface, but that impression slowly begins toContinue Reading
Wade Easy deepens his psychedelic Americana on ‘Honey Venom’
Wade Easy has been moving quickly, but Honey Venom doesn’t sound rushed. As his third album in under a year, the record continues the Appalachian psychedelia of Sleeping With the Sun On and Sea of Night while shifting the emphasis towards something more sensual, stripped-back and tactile. Across ten tracks, he combines hazy guitar, loose rhythmsContinue Reading









