Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update with loads of great new music as always inc trx from Alexandra Leaving, Enjoyable Listens, The Lovely Eggs & 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
Radio Free Alice – 2010
Melbourne based post-punk outfit Radio Free Alice have dropped their heartfelt new single 2010. On the track, they get personal, with most of the lyrics exploring love and relationships. The band were inspired to go against the grain, separating the track from other popular releases like Fire Warning and Square, all which have clear hooks and singalong lines. “We’ve been playing the song live for almost a year now,” the band say of the track. “Musically we were influenced by early The Cure and The Smiths. The song focuses on the instrumentation rather than the vocals more than any other track on the EP. It’s the first and only song we have with a pretty much totally instrumental chorus.” A great toe tapping, upbeat banger.
Alexandra Leaving – These Scars
With a debut EP now under her belt, Shropshire’s Alexandra Leaving is standing tall with her message of emotional release, as personified in its title An Exorcise in Anger. Track 4 on the EP is These Scars and on it, the artist seemingly vents her frustration with toxic relationships while reflecting on what’s been learnt having gone through and experienced such situations. Conjuring to mind artists like Chrissie Hynde and other strong female role models in the vocal delivery, there’s plenty of bold riffing throughout that gives the track a toughness to match the lyric. Definitely a welcome addition to this burgeoning artist’s canon of works.
October Drift – Blame The Young
Acclaimed indie-rock outfit October Drift have shared their anthemic new single Blame The Young. Vocalist Kiran Roy says of the track: “It’s about blame, on that personal level, but also on a wider picture socially and politically – the housing crisis, the food crisis, poverty, the unravelling of the NHS. Whether it’s blaming the young, blaming immigration. Climate denial while there is sewage in our waters… Our pasts, our futures, culture wars, actual wars – passing the blame and denying realities happens all the time.” A poignant track, very apt for the times. Fantastic lyrics – one to turn up loud and belt out!
The WAEVE – City Lights
The WAEVE (aka Blur‘s Graham Coxon & Rose Elinor Dougall) have shared new single City Lights which sees them hone in on their already-signature sound, and capture a bold, sultry chorus. “Now your soul belongs to me/ It’ll be alright/ Out in the darkness, free to fly/ We’ll get some sleep tomorrow,” they sing at the beginning amid a high-energy riff and distorted guitars. Both artists take on singing duties, as well as keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, drums and saxophone. “The city lights bestow a unique magic on everyone – the beautiful and the grotesque, the angels and the devils – shining and seductive, one and all… Who wants to love you and who wants to destroy you?” they said of the new single.
JW Paris – Geeks & Freaks
London based trio JW Paris have just dropped belter of a new single Geeks & Freaks, a brilliantly strange, psychedelic infused piece of rock music. It starts sounding like Oasis then in the middle, things turn grungy with heavy guitars and raucous drumming. The vocals are fuzzy and distorted, the harmonized chorus is nearly Beatles-esque in the background as are the na-na-na’s towards the end of the track. The trio describes their sound as “grunge-inspired 90s Britpop”. Aaron explained: “So everything good about the 90s in the UK, we’re bringing that into the modern day.” Definitely one to crank up and sing along to!
DEADLETTER – Mere Mortal
Post-punk outfit DEADLETTER‘s frenetic new single Mere Mortal brings rapturous basslines, frantic guitar groans and cunning saxophones – as it sets the groundwork for an eagerly-awaited debut from the connoisseurs of cold, hard truths. A personal tragedy is played out of a friend’s suicide, aiming to resonate with those familiar with loss and longing. Their upcoming debut album Hysterical Strength promises left-field analysis into the tragedy and beauty of past and present humans, all the while opening eyes to the contradictions of modern living. As lead singer Zaz Lawrence explains, “It’s punishing but there’s also fucking beauty out there.” What a belter – fast, furious & honest – crank it up!
Enjoyable Listens – International Space Station
An absolute fave at Futureproof is the inimitable Enjoyable Listens with his crooning baritone voice & hysterical yet clever lyrics. Today we give you International Space Station, the closing song on his album Trapped In The Cage Of A Hateful Bird. This wonderfully infectious track showcases a country slide guitar with his gal by his side, looking at the stars, observing the International Space Station, the anticipation of carnal relations forever lingering in the cool summer air. This songwriting genius has built himself a huge fanbase due to his showmanship – I can’t emphasize enough how he needs to be seen live!! See you at Glastonbury Luke!
The Lovely Eggs – Nothing / Everything
The Lovely Eggs have dropped new single Nothing/Everything from their forthcoming Eggsistentialism album a wistful, stark, magnificent seven minute psychedelic epic (although we give you the shorter radio edit!) “nothing/everything is the yin/yang of life,” explains holly. “there’s hope and despair, patience and frustration, birth and death, the mundane and the extraordinary. it’s the magnificence of “being” walking hand in hand alongside life’s daily grind. this song is simply what is. it’s not looking forward or back. it’s us now. it’s uplifting and it’s tragic. it is probably the longest and most meaningful song we’ve ever written and recorded. it’s our magnum opus about life.” A melodic, upbeat yet melancholic banger with witty, heartfelt lyrics – we love it!
Dolores Forever – Go Fast Go Slow
Dolores Forever have announced their debut album It’s Nothing with new single Go Fast Go Slow. “This song is somewhere to place our female rage,” Hannah Wilson and Julia Fabrin explain. “It explodes with a lifetime of frustration about being objectified, limited and defined by our gender. Feminism is far from completed and we’re ready to shout about it.” Of the album, the duo add that it’s a “punchy indie-pop record about feminism, friendship and navigating a messed up world. It blows our minds that the music industry is obsessed with hearing from people who are just 21. As we’ve gotten into our thirties, we have so many more stories, and so much more to say.” Energetic & infectious – great lyrics on this banger!
MRCY – California
MRCY have shared their debut project VOLUME 1, which features brand new soulful single California, a wistful, psychedelic meditation on the appearance and the reality of city life. The band comment: “California is actually about London, but more specifically the night-and-day perception of somewhere beyond the surface. For the most part they might seem like decent places to live, but you’ll see struggle, hardship, poverty and mental warfare right alongside lives that are flourishing. California is about feeling powerless to help even in a place that claims to be one of opportunity.” For Barney and Kojo, MRCY is as much about putting yourself first as it is the spirit of compassion, empathy and m(e)rcy that has never felt more needed. A beautiful, emotional track to chill out to.
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