Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update .. loads of great new music as always inc killer cuts from Porij, Nadine Shah, NewDad & many 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
Pillow Queens – Gone
Irish rock outfit Pillow Queens have shared pounding new single Gone from their upcoming album Name Your Sorrow and say the track “looks into the vapid nature of brief romantic encounters and the hyperbole that can become so monotonous, it makes you jaded.” It came together at the end of a jam session during a songwriting retreat in The Burren on the West Coast of Ireland, and retains something of the jagged landscape with guitars that jigsaw together together to form a prickly rock track that builds into a vocal crescendo. Of the new album, the band’s Cathy McGuinness said: “It is about stages of love, loss and grief and how they can all exist alongside one another — intertwined, messy, beautiful–how both love and loss can coexist.”
Sam Akpro – Death By Entertainment
At the end of last year, Sam Akpro shared the single Death By Entertainment and states: “This song is about the numbing feeling of repeating the same day again and again, and how we entertain ourselves to death just to get through it – an easy cop-out from actually thinking or changing a situation,” he explains. Pedro Takahashi directs a stirring promo, as the artist and his band take on the role of Wall Street-style bankers, trapped in a never-ending cycle of working hard and playing even harder. “Reflecting the lyrics’ theme of repetition and the crushing daily grind, we used motion control to create a circular camera movement that we come back to throughout the video,” Takahashi explains. A great beat really captures the theme of the song – monotonous but engrossing!
DellaXOZ – come again
Manchester’s alt-pop/indie-rock artist DellaXOZ, has dropped the infectious single come again, from upcoming EP DELLAIRIUM. The track explores the relatable theme of falling for the wrong person and the teenage delusions that accompany such experiences. DellaXOZ describes it as the “delulu song,” capturing the essence of teenage girl delusion. The accompanying video, directed by Joe Horridge, enhances the narrative, creating a cliché coming-of-age feel with vibrant sets that pay homage to classic scenes from teen movies. DellaXOZ infuses her music with boldness, conviction, and a commitment to social commentary. Influenced by riot girl bands like Bikini Kill and La Tigre, she channels her creativity into crafting “rage-y, riot girl feminist songs.”
BODEGA – Tarkovski
New York rebellious art-punks BODEGA have shared new single Tarkovski from their upcoming album Our Brand Could Be Yr Life. Vocalist Ben Hozie said: “Tarkovski is a pun on the famous Russian director and skiing; I was enamoured by his book “Sculpting in Time” but found that many of his professed rules and guidelines for filmmaking were broken by his own filmmaking practices .. Theory never really gets at what you want and applying theory to the chaotic practice of art making (while still useful and essential) is like skiing down a wild slope.” A banger for sure with a great middle instrumental section.
NewDad – Nightmares
Irish alt-rock band NewDad recently shared new single Nightmares from their debut album Madra, out this month. Vocalist Julie Dawson states: “Nightmares is about longing for something or someone, even though you shouldn’t, for whatever reason. It’s about not wanting to fall for someone because you know it’d never work. Basically, just wishing you despised them instead of adoring them.” The album searches for solace in pain, tackling themes of bullying, self-medication/depression, destruction, co-dependency and resistance and she states: “Madra (dog in Irish) explores various difficult parts of the human condition and the idea of the title is that these feelings that come up are sometimes ones you can’t escape – feelings that follow you around like a dog.” Captivating lyrics and rousing vocals on this belter!
Jane Weaver – Love in Constant Spectacle
Jane Weaver recently shared the ethereal single Love in Constant Spectacle and says it’s about “searching for joy, wanting to love and feel loved, then uncovering it in unusual places and in the smallest, hidden things in life. Magnified under rocks and stones, it explores connecting with nature and your surroundings as opposed to other people – focusing on autonomy, new beginnings and feeling bewitched.” Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning), the new song acts as a gateway into her next chapter. Combined with visuals from Kamran Kaur, the single comes ahead of a massive UK tour in Spring 2024.
Nadine Shah – Greatest Dancer
Singer-songwriter, and a Futureproof fave, Nadine Shah has just started a run of UK & Europe support slots with Depeche Mode and shares new single Greatest Dancer, from upcoming album Filthy Underneath. Blending tribal percussion with industrial electronic influences, the track succeeds in building hype for the album. According to a press release, Shah’s galloping and dark new single was “inspired by the lockdown Saturday nights that [Shah] and her late mother would spend watching Strictly Come Dancing“. Gorgeous celestial vocals from the inimitable Nadine Shah – don’t miss her own headline tour which kicks off in April, and hits London’s iconic Heaven venue on May 2nd.
Chelsea Wolfe – Tunnel Lights
Recently released single Tunnel Lights from Chelsea Wolfe is taken from upcoming album She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She. The track is a nod to production techniques from the ‘00s and ‘90s with a slightly jarring set-up of an electronic drum playing with bass and piano while Wolfe’s mesmerising, glitching voice soars with the ever-evolving state of the instruments. This powerful song about healing builds in the latter half with a thumping bass and guitar growing darker and edgier. Of the album, Wolfe says, “It’s a record about the past self reaching out to the present self reaching out to the future self to summon change, growth, and guidance. It’s a story of setting yourself free from situations and patterns that are holding you back, in order to become self-empowered.”
Waxahatchee – Right Back to It (ft. MJ Lenderman)
New single Right Back to It is taken from Waxahatchee’s upcoming album Tigers Blood and is a collaboration with the highly sought-after young guitarist MJ Lenderman. He’s the steady hand on the tiller as Katie Crutchfield reflects on the anxious places her mind goes after too much time alone: “I get ahead of myself/Refusing anyone’s help,” she sings. She states: “I wrote it backstage at Wolf Trap when I was on tour opening for Jason Isbell and Sheryl Crow. I’m really interested in writing love songs that are gritty and unromantic. I wanted to make a song about the ebb and flow of a longtime love story.” A gorgeous, mellow country-inflected duet.
Porij – My Only Love
Manchester four-piece Porij announce their debut album Teething and share uplifting new single My Only Love about “the safety and comfort of a settled relationship, for better or worse” with a video directed by Maxi McLachlan. “I went to see Dancing At Lughnasa at the National Theatre and was completely struck by a moment in the closing monologue which has the line ‘Dancing with eyes half-closed because to open them would break the spell’ … It’s easy to put pressure on a long term relationship but through this song I remembered to enjoy each moment and not take things too seriously.” the band said about the inspiration behind the track. Floaty and hypnotic with dynamic shifts and beautiful vocals – love it.
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