Alt-pop trio Saint Nomad are back with an anthemic song about empathy and open communication titled Stay.
Co-produced by them together with Daniel James (Hayley Williams), Stay is a pop song with a benevolent mission, calling for unity during a time of conflict. Empowering sing along chorus, colorful synths and thumping beats, smartly combined together by a rising band you should keep on your radar.
“‘Stay’ was written as our anthem in response to the division we’re seeing in our culture and in our country,” the band explains. “Seems like people are increasingly being pitted against each other, and we just want to foster love, understanding, and mutual respect. There’s nothing more powerful than truly loving people where they are at. We want people to be honest, express themselves, and still know that we can be family and friends. And we’re going to stay that way.“.
Introducing London-born producer, Tom Skyrme – aka Swim Moutain.
Combining breezy 60’s inspired psych with more modern dream-pop tendencies, his latest self-produced and recorded EP ‘If’ conjures, in his own words, “the slow demise of a relationship told across an interchanging timeline of pre and post internet.”
Listen below to the swaggering highlight of the EP, ‘Somebody New’.
The EP is released on Tourist‘s record label Monday Records, and he has also been announced to support Tourist at his upcoming headline shows at London’s Village Underground on 8 and 9 April.
Sounds like: Tame Impala, MGMT, Toro Y Moi, Miike Snow
German artist Jinka shares her explosive new single ‘U Bit My <3'.
Channelling emo and urban vibes with a playful way with wonky arpeggios of synthesized steel drums and piano samples that intertwine with a trap-leaning beat.
DAD (aka bedroom pop singer/songwriter Kei Wells) shares her new single ‘Fresher’.
DAD has teamed up with Grammy-nominated Austrian producer, artist and pianist Yakob. Our favourite of hers to date, this declaration of independence is the ultimate single girl’s anthem, with electrified pop sequences infused with synth-pop juice.
Wrabel and Gallant will feature on her forthcoming EP.
We’re super excited about the sounds of Norwegian artist Jon Olav.
His new single ‘I Am The Thing’ opens with sparse piano chords (we instantly think James Blake), and bubbles into itself with deliciously sinister pop hooks and crystalline vocals as Olav looks inward to contemplate the pluses and minuses of attention.
Approachable Members Of Your Local Community – Small Change
With the best name we’ve seen for a long while, Approachable Members Of Your Local Community (let’s call them AMOYLC for short) releases the catchy ‘Small Change’.
The quartet – who met at school – fuse elements of indie, electro, funk and disco into their unapologetically spirited sound. But their new single ‘Small Change’ has a serious message. Dedicated to the firefighters and communities affected by the Australian fires, “it’s clear that small change can have a big impact.”
Self-made art creator and songwriter Molina shares her bold single, ‘Vanilla Shell’, the title track taken from her new EP.
The sparse and inventive song weaves textured vocals with a fluttering flute and fretless bass into a psychedlic trip about love and youth, with captivating nods to the eras of 1960, 70 and 80.
Gold Member is a three-piece of producers and singer/songwriters.
Crossing genres between funk, soul and pop, their new single ‘Stay On’ is an easy, breezy piece of charge-soaked, soulful pop with a topical headline about Indigenous identity in white Australia, and the struggles of living in a system of cultural oppression.
What an anthem – ‘Not Ok!’ by Nashville based pop lothario Chaz Cardigan, released on Capitol Records/Loud Robot.
The track is an infectious tune about human imperfection, which sees Cardigan laid bare, both lyrically and visually. The Al Kalyk-directed video also features an astonishing number of gummy bears…
A daydream about endless summer days, it’s the perfect antidote for a wet and cold January. The song was crafted early one morning using a drum loop and an oberheim synthesizer and is a call to a honeycoated time of romance and yearning.
Hailing from the sunny cities of Blackpool (Henry) and Yorkshire (Felix), this UK-based duo uses experimentation lo-fi pop sounds to create music that would slot nicely alongside MGMT and Tame Impala.
Kicking off is the disorientating but hypnotic. ‘Snowfall’. Not bad for a debut.
“Have YOU ever been dumped? We here at courtship understand. Text us if you like the song and/or need a free therapy session from ya boys Eli and Micah 818-338-6877.”
Los Angeles duo courtship. is always here to help with their new single ‘Number 1’ and its sweet AF basslines, cascading piano keys and retro-inspired vocals.
The duo elaborates, “We wrote this song because we all know what it feels like to be number 2. Not good. The line ‘baby you’re fun, but you’ll never be number one’ sums it up perfectly.”
Sounds like: Cut Copy, Van She, Summer Heart, Jagwar Ma, Two Door Cinema Club, MGMT, Passion Pit
Introducing Derbyshire-born Sophie Kilburn and her debut single ‘Indigo Fever’.
It’s a beautiful fiery alt-pop number that showcases Kilburn’s powerful songwriting with an anthemic backdrop – “How can you love your body, when nobody is loving you?”
Listen below.
Sounds like: KT Tunstall, Florence & The Machine, Angie McMahon, Emma McGrath, PJ Harvey, Jade Bird
Touring drummer for MØ and Major Lazer, Copenhagen-based Rasmus Littauer spends the majority of his time on the road. When he does get some rare downtime, he spends it writing and producing tracks for his solo project, School Of X.
His evocative synth single, ‘Write My Name’ is the final single release before his ‘Destiny’ EP, which takes us on a journey of leaving doubts behind and looking forward.
Indie music often alludes to themes of adolescence, but what happens when indie bands grow up? Should their songwriting not follow suit? Stranger Girl are the perfect example of that, they retain all the trademark sonic tropes but their songwriting addresses navigating love in their twenties, hoping to ‘Find The Humour’ post-breakup.
Listen below and check out the warm fuzzy guitars set the perfect backdrop for frontwoman Melissa’s Blondie-inspired pop-rock vocal melodies.
We’re not going to feel bad for digging a band that racks up similarities to The Killers and U2.
The band in question is vibrant Leeds-based The Chevin, and we can’t help but admire their nod to energetic, 90’s rock in the new single, ‘Big Machine’.
Sounds like: The Wombats, The Killers, INXS, Duran Duran, U2
New Swedish band on the block, Vola Tila comes straight out of the gate armed with an infectious yet emotional account of “a loss of oneself”. Full of energy, and a heady blend of pop and indie, fusing synths, guitars and both live and programmed drums, the recently formed pair take influence from a crossover of genres, each with a background in production and composing for other artists.
Fully obsessed with music, Johannes Henriksson and Richard Andersson have spent almost every day in the studio together creating their new EP, recorded in collaboration with Sonic Boom (MGMT, Panda Bear, Spacemen 3) and Swedish producer Charlie Storm (Håkan Hellström).
Rebellious band geeks, French Horn Rebellion shares new single ‘Renaissance Man’.
A combination of French horn played “really really loud” and laid back groovy beats, these two brothers – aka Brooklyn-based Robert and David Perlick-Molinari – know how to make you dance.
Since its inception, French Horn Rebellion has been an independent project, and the brothers now also co-own their very own label and studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – YouTooCanWoo. The studio has been responsible for producing musical artists such as MGMT and The Knocks, while also creating the audio identities for companies like Spotify, MTV and LOGO.
The track is taken from their ‘Graduation Compilation,’ an album comprised of past hits and new tracks, signaling the end of an era as they launch their new disco/house/dance label imprint, toucan sounds.
Seattle-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Diamond shares slow-burning pop song, ‘Steady’.
At just 25, Diamond already oozes so much self-love and confidence, and with this being a debut, we are blown away by his frank approach to welcoming such feel-good emotions.
‘Steady’ is out now via Stardog Records/Republic Records.
UK-born band Stats embrace spontaneity by transfusing genres in their music, such as 70’s art rock, 80’s synth grooves, and cosmic disco-pop.
The new single ‘Lose It’ is about temptations to simply vanish into thin air, a desire that most of us have probably faced in life. Let’s hope Stats don’t disappear anytime soon.
Expect their ‘Other People’s Lives’ album shortly.
Brighton trio Suzi Island shares vibrant new single, ‘Halo’.
Produced by Larry Hibbitt (Nothing But Thieves, SundaraKarma, SeaGirls, Marmozets), ‘Halo’ has a bittersweet sound throughout and is a clear bound forward for Suzi Island following their last two singles.
Sounds like: Nothing But Thieves, Sundara Karma, Sea Girls
