It’s almost spring in the UK. Can you feel it? After months of storms a dreariness we have have had sunlight peaking through this week. Apologies if your part of the world is still under siege weather wise hopefully some new music and videos will help you pass some time with a smile.
Here’s what we are listening to and watching from the last seven days or so. Be sure to link to the artists pages and drop them a like or follow – or both – and buy anything direct from the artists to show even more support.
Blackpink – “GO”
K-pop queens / idols Lisa, Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo make a fantastic return to form with “GO” a song with melody, fat squelching beats, mixing 90s pop and early 00s dance beats, into something really unexpected and honestly refreshing given their more recent slim output. This is where they excel. A banger as the kids used to say! Fun fact the track is cowritten with Chris Martin (Coldplay) and all four band members and you can definitely hear that trademark Martin melody in the verses. Thankfully he doesn’t sing on this track. (Thanks to my K-pop correspondent Marit for recommending this one).
Angine de Poitrine – “Fabienk”
This Canadian (Quebec) math rock and performance art duo has rightly been blowing up online. The look, the sound, the fun and sheer joy listening and watching their live KEXP performance is bringing everyone is wonderful. And their musical virtuosity is sublime too.They’ll be heading out on tour over the coming months. See them. You won’t regret it.
Bathing Suits – “Empathy”
This Leeds (UK) based band are another group building on their live performances as well as creating some blissed out, techno/industrial powerhouse tunes. Following on from their previous singles “Empathy” stretches out their sound even further into a cathartic and epic sounding song.
she’s green – “Mettle”
Deservedly fast rising Minneapolis based indie/shoegaze darlings drop another hazy spell and infuse the atmosphere with that very specific gauzy heartache that only comes from stamping on a billion effects peddles. All while vocalist Zofia Smith sweetly curls her voice around the churning noises, like smoke from a flickering candle flame.
Lime Garden – “All Bad Parts”
Bouncing basslines, jangling guitars, pop synth chords and languid lyrical dexterity combine to create another frantic slice of indie pop rock as Lime Garden showcase brand new material following their 2024 debut album “One More Thing”.
Nothing – “never come never morning”
Vocalist Domenic Palmero and his revolving coterie of band members again bring the fire with a new batch of scorched shoegaze, charred with hardcore sensibility. Taken from their new album “A Short History of Decay”, which is stunning, this track aches with reflection and nostalgia, feeling raw and alive in the process.
Guided By Voices – “We Outlast Them All”
Another band with a host of former members and current ones gathering around vocalist and songwriter Robert Pollard. These are the progenitors of the 80s post punk/garage rock sound that influenced college rock bands for decades to follow. They will and indeed have outlasted many, if not all.
The Twilight Sad – “Attempt A Crash Landing -Theme”
That familiar rush of sounds, guitars and voices in unison. Thunderous drums. Brutally honest. Wonderfully evocative. Here’s the first tease of the newly downsized Scottish duo’s upcoming album “The Long Goodbye”.
New German Cinema – “Swirling Pain”
This moody, synth soaked ode to self-worth is the second single from the upcoming album “Pain Will Polish Me” from New German Cinema, the solo project of Fear of Men songwriter and vocalist Jessica Weiss, and its chillingly great listen.
Squarepusher – “K2 Central”
Musician, producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist Thom Jenkinson gets looser, jazzier and more explorative than ever on this preview of his upcoming “KammerKonzert” album as Squarepusher, due out in April.