“It carries so much power to me. It’s magic.…This track sets my soul free…This song is a mantra for bussing through the dark walls of your own mind. Getting to the other side of all of what could be holding you back.”
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“I wrote this about an extremely emotionally unavailable guy I was dating who ended up ghosting me. It honestly felt so confusing because it felt like it was going somewhere and then he disappeared like nothing happened.”
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“It’s about not trying so hard to figure everything out, reflecting on getting older and trying not to agonise over things that have or haven’t happened in your life. It’s also about trying to get to grips with the polarising aspects of one’s life when you’re in a band. You’ve just played a huge tour – and you come home, and you have your dinner on the sofa. For me, it’s summed up in how I treat TV. I used to never watch the same thing twice because I thought I’ve got so much to discover! And now I’m like, It’s okay if I just want to rewatch Peep Show for the thirteenth time.” – Ellie Rowsell, Wolf Alice
“One of the biggest reasons I love this song so much is because of how universal the lyrics are and how many interpretations they could have. When I wrote this song I was feeling a bit lost in life and overwhelmed by everything I want to achieve and how to get there and I found that when I was trying to explain to people how I felt people would often jump to finding the solution when really all I wanted was to sit in the confusion of it all for a moment with them. This song is about accepting all of these feelings and embracing them. I used the ocean in the music video as a metaphor for this.”
Hollie Gautiér
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“’Vicious Delicious’ is a song about a terrible man who tasted like heaven. He was moreish, magnetic, devilishly handsome and danced like Fred Astaire. A true hedonist with a black eye to match. I was thinking a lot about Sid & Nancy at the time.. dangerous, intoxicating love. WARNING: do not fall for a man in band.”
TRACK OF THE WEEK
Words can’t really describe how much we’re blown away by bat zoo’s heady new single, ‘Lemon.’
This song treats listeners to a smoky blend of alternative R&B and soul. The sound is mysterious and intriguing, while also maintaining an emotive essence.
Impressively, ‘Lemon’ was created by bat zoo himself in its entirety, showcasing his skills as a singer, songwriter, and producer. With praise from the likes of Atwood and c-heads magazine, it’s clear this Berlin-based artist has a very bright future ahead of him.
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Rising Kenyan musician IkeN is back today with a beautiful new slice of R&B that really deserves your attention.
‘Delusional’ is simple in its construction—the production is minimal, allowing for a dreamy style of sound, while the lyrics tell of the confusing, contradicting states of mind when we love someone.
In a sign of his ever-growing popularity, IkeN has now amassed more than 300k cumulative streams on Spotify alone, marking him as one of Kenya’s brightest R&B prospects.
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American producer and songwriter Tommy Champion joins forces with musician Mcclendon to create one of the most beautiful releases of the week, ‘Wait For Me.’
Lifted from Champion’s upcoming ‘Phases & Stasis’ album, this gorgeously dreamy ballad sounds unusual and unexpected, while still carrying an enormous sense of emotion and sincerity.
“Written during a retreat to his childhood home in Connecticut with longtime collaborator Mcclendon (who sings lead, alongside Emma Rae), the track is a lush ballad built from bouzoukis, Mellotrons, modular synths, and the widest variety of acoustic & electrics guitars. Embedded in the song is a voice memo from Champion’s late godfather, Norwegian sea captain Reidulf Maalen, recorded during their final visit before his passing.”
Listeners can look forward to the release of ‘Phases & Stasis’ soon. The album itself came to life at a three-week retreat in the Vermont woods and features twelve highly personal songs that each champion the human, handmade craftsmanship of music making.
Jake Knox has been on our radar for quite some time now, so we’re delighted that he’s out with some new material that we can share with you today.
‘Your Love’ is a delightfully eccentric song that effortlessly fuses alternative R&B with pop. Somehow it’s both playful and melancholic, mirroring the song’s lyrics—reminding us that just as life can deal us a heavy hand, it can also bring us joy and hope.
“‘Your Love’ is a song I wrote at one of the higher points of my life. After having been through two near death experiences and a big heart ache, I finally felt that spark again that had been missing for sometime. Every now and then you feel like life has got you on the ropes forever but then an amazing person can change your life in a second. This song is about feeling that as well as being more on the intimate side. – Jake Knox
The track features the talents of fellow artist Alexi Blue, which adds an interesting perspective to the character of the song. If you love this track as much as we do, then you might be pleased to know that today is also the release day of Knox’s new album, which you can stream here.
“I was feeling numb at the time, what would you do to not feel numb anymore. You would get back with your toxic ex, you would crash your car, how far are you willing to go to not feel numb.”
“I wrote ‘Butter’ in the middle of the night when I was restless shall we say. I had just hung up the phone to somebody I really missed and yearned for them. Whether you’re doing long distance, ending something or meeting someone for the first time…this song is about longing and all the words that are left unsaid. Are they thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about them? It becomes quite consuming and addictive. This one is for the daydreamers.”
Only The Poets return this week with a bold, emotionally raw alt-pop gem in the form of their new single, ‘Emotionally Hungover’.
TRACK OF THE WEEK
We’ve not come across an artist who excites us as much as alternative artist Max Baby has in quite some time.
This emerging Parisian singer, songwriter, and producer crafts a style of sound that is so refreshingly distinct and unexpected, yet also so emotionally charged that it really does leave you feeling like you’ve experienced music in a new way.
‘I Can Do Anything’ was driven by a breakup – but it also looks at the inner struggles that haunt us when we try to overcome our pain and bring ourselves back from the abyss. The track is sonically raw and lyrically introspective and feels like a song we can all relate to.
“’I Can Do Anything’ is a push-pull between shadow and light, a raw song about the inability to let go, masked by a defiant but hollow sense of empowerment. I was going through the toughest breakup of my life when I wrote it. But it’s not just a breakup song, it also questions the relationship I have with myself. The chorus came first, like an empowering mantra I was repeating to try and lift this weight off my chest. But the more I tried to move on, the more I wondered: can you ever truly get rid of something like that? Or do you just learn to live with it?”
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Drawing inspiration from the father-daughter dynamic of Joel and Ellie on the HBO series ‘The Last of Us’, Rose paints a nuanced familial portrait steeped in raw emotion on ‘Before & After You’.
“But I’m just a liar, and that never happened. It’s all my fault, and it’s too late now.”
Formerly known as the frontwoman and creative force behind the prog-pop project Tenacity, Ula strikes out on her own on this debut, unveiling a sound that’s both individual and fresh.
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Norwegian pop artist Mathea-Mari has released a new single this week, called ‘Tired of Fixing A Broken Heart’.
As the title suggests, this is a melancholic pop song with sincere lyrics that was created alongside a stellar team of musicians – Christian Burns, Matt Alvers, and producer Chris Gill.
Mathea-Mari already has an accomplished career within the Scandinavian music scene. Now aged 24 years old, this singer and songwriter first launched her career on Norway’s Got Talent at age 12. She also won the country’s Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2014, which is no mean feat!
“‘Day To Day’ was one of those songs that pretty much wrote itself, 99% of it was written, produced, and tracked in just a few hours. Some songs just bring a certain electricity into the room – this was one of those.”
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TRACK OF THE WEEK
Absolutely first teased ‘I Just Don’t Know You Yet’ earlier this month on a recent North American tour with BANKS.
The song quickly spread across social media after footage of her performing the then-unreleased track in Arizona caught traction on TikTok, resulting in today’s official release.
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Your weekend banger has landed, and it comes in the form of ‘Gorgeous’ by California producer Babsy.
This track reminds us of sounds by other electronic icons like Jamie xx and Fred again.. as well as the early work from Mike Skinner and The Streets. In equal measures, the song feels both nostalgic and future-forward, which is so refreshing to experience.
Babsy. is most inspired when surfing and roaming in nature, and makes music with the intention of lifting people’s spirits and reassuring listeners that they are never alone. This is a great artist with a great purpose behind his work… and we’re here for it!
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For those yet to be acquainted with UK-born singer and songwriter Harvey Brittain, then now might be a good day for an introduction.
This rising 23-year-old artist has been building steady traction in recent months, thanks to his impressive productions that effortlessly fuse indie-pop with rock. Today marks the release of his new single and accompanying mixtape, ‘my heart keeps score’, of which he says:
“‘my heart keeps score’ is the first full body of work I’ve ever released and it’s easily the most personal. These eight tracks tell my story from growing up in Preston, a small town in the north of the UK where not much really goes on in the world, to uprooting everything and chasing my music career halfway across the world in the chaos of LA.”
The track presents listeners with a distinct blend of Britpop and sad-pop, perfectly encapsulating the song’s lyrics, which talk of loneliness and broken hearts.
Harvey’s music has picked up praise from outlets like BBC Radio 1 and landed spots on huge playlists like Spotify’s New Music Friday UK and Fresh Finds. Keep your radars on this kid – he’s definitely destined for bigger things.
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