Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update. We’ve got bangers from Divorce, Astles, Blur & loads more. If you like what you hear please follow and share this playlist, it helps us keep doing our thing by getting the algorithms on our side. Also please support the artists featured in any way you can!
Until next week
Helen (Futureproof) x
Cherym – It’s Not Me It’s You
Derry based pop-punk trio Cherym have dropped infectious, vivacious new single It’s Not Me It’s You from their upcoming debut album Take It Or Leave It. Drummer Alannagh Doherty explains that it “definitely has a bittersweet taste to it. You know when you want to help someone so bad but they won’t even help themselves? This one is for those of us who realised we just can’t continue to let ourselves get dragged into other people’s problems – as much as we want to help them, we just can’t.” A poppy belter – what’s not to like?!
The Covasettes – Heart & Soul
This bright and breezy indie pop number from Manchester’s The Covasettes shows great promise on the songwriting front – and it’s no surprise that they’ve shared stages with Two Door Cinema Club, The Vaccines & The Sherlocks. Soaring guitar lines poke through this solid guitar-pop arrangement at times but the real star here is the vocal performance that has a sense of ease about it and has brilliant dynamics throughout. Rhythmically marking out triplet time (like The Manics’ Design for Life) this track definitely sticks out from the crowd but these guys obviously know what they’re doing and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from them. Incidentally… what is a Covasette?
Abi Rose Kelly – Startin’ 2 Panic!
Angst filled lyrics explain “she’s apprehensive when she speaks but she never stutters” and leave you with a real sense of release and letting go on this great slacker grunge vibe that draws you in from the get-go with its incessant guitar riff and deadpan verse vocal. Then the song delivers big time with an irresistible chorus vocal melody that keeps the momentum up throughout the track. Having been listed for the Glastonbury Emerging competition back in 2020, Abi Rose Kelly has since moved to Liverpool from Yorkshire after supporting Liverpudlian band Crawlers, proclaiming the city made her feel she could be her true-self as a queer woman – with energy busting tracks like this I get the feeling the live show must be something to behold – can’t wait to see that one!
Heartworms – May I Comply
Heartworms, aka Jojo Orme states: “When I wrote this track I just wanted to get over an ex and to tell my little brother he’s good enough… turned out to be a lot darker than I thought.” Debut EP A Comforting Notion was released earlier this year, twisting and reshaping what post-punk could be, whilst new single May I Comply is a spiky, electronic, groove-driven track. Instead of trying to fit in, Heartworms is all about Jojo following her gut. “If a sound or a lyric makes me feel something, it stays … My music, the way I perform, it all comes from the very core of my being. It’s everything I’ve felt through my life, but never been able to express before,” she continues. “There’s such freedom to that.”
The Frowns – Hateful Symphony
The Frowns have dropped rock ballad Hateful Symphony, an arresting tune with poignant lyrics that give the track an almost hymnal quality. With elements of Glavegas and Big Country seeping through the arrangement, the shimmery guitars build to a crescendo that only adds to the feeling of gravitas in the vocal delivery. A fan favourite live, producers Chris Marshall and former Baby Strange vocalist and guitarist Johnny Madden, worked with the band to overhaul the arrangement, giving the track a larger than life stadium feel. The Frowns also collaborated with esteemed violinist Keir Thompson, adding a new dimension to the song. Overall, with help from some of the best, The Frowns have recreated their distinctive live sound and produced their strongest offering yet.
Blur – The Ballad
Blur‘s emotional ninth album The Ballad of Darren sees them ruminating about past successes while pushing forward musically. The Darren of the title is Darren “Smoggy” Evans, Blur’s longtime bodyguard, who consistently nagged at Albarn to finish a 2003 demo that has now become The Ballad – a graceful opening track that audibly cranks the band back into action with a whirr. It’s a love song, but when Coxon sings “we travelled around the world together” on backing vocals, it’s all too easy to transfer some of these loving words over to Blur themselves. A beautiful track with heartfelt lyrics – this one’s on repeat!
Marika Hackman – Slime
Marika Hackman recently shared new single Slime from upcoming album Big Sigh. “It’s a reflection of the destruction that can be caused when you get together with someone and there are other factors at play,” Hackman said about the song in a statement. “On the one hand you have a new thing that’s really exciting and hot and lusty but there can also be a lot of storm clouds floating around, a lot of fall-out socially.” On this album she confronts corporeality with brutal honesty. Big Sigh – the “hardest record” Marika has ever made – is, as its title suggests, a release of sorts. It is an edifying blend of sadness, stress and lust, but mostly – and crucially – that of relief.
Astles – When Life Catches You by Surprise
Astles has shared highly infectious, upbeat new single When Life Catches You by Surprise. A charmingly gentle verse vocal that almost falls over itself leads to a very ‘dream pop’ style chorus. It’s a highly individual track with great songwriting and a lyrical sentiment we can all relate to. Astles’ vocals hover over a gentle groove of drums and bass, later adding guitar and piano arpeggios akin to early 90s indie. Befitting the title, the track takes a few left turns, building to a bridge of heavy guitars, soaring strings and choir-like vocals. Astles states: “It’s a song about falling in love with someone all over again. Life is always throwing unexpected things our way, some awful, some beautiful. This song was written in direct response to a moment of overwhelming bliss.”
Bombay Bicycle Club – Tekken 2 (ft. Chaka Khan)
Indie outfit Bombay Bicycle Club recently dropped funky new single Tekken 2, from their new album My Big Day, and it features the upbeat vocals of soul legend Chaka Khan, who states: “The band has such innovative and passionate energy, truly great musicians. Absolute vibes.” Singer Jack Steadman said “It was incredible when she said yes, such an honour. We couldn’t believe it.” Named after the 90s video game, Tekken 2 is inspired by the feelings of “togetherness and community” Steadman experienced while playing in arcades during childhood. He has been excited to see Khan’s role in the song’s music video; she filmed her part in LA’s Topanga Canyon, wearing a dress she designed herself.
Divorce – Eat My Words
Indie outfit Divorce have dropped gorgeous, forthright new indie-folk single Eat My Words from their recently released Heady Metal EP. Felix Mackenzie-Barrow (vocals/guitar) explained that: “The song scrutinises my emotional response to situations in which I’ve been uncomfortable; and where I’ve come away from those situations with frustrations about the things I’ve left unsaid, sometimes for better, sometimes not”. With the co-vocals of Tiger Cohen-Towell (vocals/bass) and Mackenzie-Barrow, the single has a conversational quality reminiscent of the immersive back and forth of classic rock giants. Another stunner from Divorce – no wonder they’re joining indie heavyweights The Vaccines on their spring 2024 UK tour.
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