Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update .. loads of great new music as always inc trx from Kim Deal, Fontaines D.C., Been Stellar & lots 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
ladylike – Horse’s Mouth
Brighton indie-rock quartet ladylike have shared powerful new single Horse’s Mouth. Vocalist and guitarist Georgia Butler states: “Horse’s Mouth depicts the relentless work ethic of the modern-day person through the narrative of an unnamed individual.” With its post-rock and folk tendencies reminiscent of Big Thief, Mothers, and Vilde, this unique track is characterised by rolling, winding melodies and dreamy vocals. We’re loving the haunting vocals of Georgia which contrast beautifully with Spencer Withey’s vocal before rocking out at the end. Dynamic and one to put on repeat.
Joan As Police Woman – Back Again
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joan As Police Woman has shared new single Back Again, taken from the upcoming album Lemons, Limes and Orchids. Joan states: “Songs come through me like diary entries. This entry fuses the optimism of a pop song with the words of a ballad, just like many of the great Motown songs did. What better angle to persuade someone to return?” The track sees Joan As Police Woman campaigning and pleading for the reconciliation of a dissolved romantic relationship. Inspired by the works of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, Back Again effectively weaves together an eclectic mix of soul, funk, pop and progressive rock. The track’s beauty is brought to life by lyrically juxtaposing the mourning of the break-up over a sprightly and groove-inspired sonic bed.
Kim Deal – Coast
The Breeders’ singer/guitarist Kim Deal has dropped new solo single Coast recorded by the late Steve Albini at his Electric Audio studio. Deal wrote the song back in 2020, after witnessing the “revelatory levels of low self-esteem” from the house band at her friend’s wedding, The Grape Whizzers, and their cover of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. The musician helped redefine American guitar music, through her dual roles in PIXIES, and then The Breeders. The latter remain a force to be reckoned with, recently completing a UK tour, and hitting Glastonbury in the process. What a ridiculously infectious earworm – loving it!
poor effort. – HMRC
Built off British mindsets, begrudging bosses and too much telly, Salford’s hip-hop, post-punk poet, poor effort, has released new single HMRC. Reminiscent of other poets, such as Kae Tempest, Yard Act and Antony Szmierek, the track’s a brilliant, witty bleak appraisal of Britain’s frequently desperate jobs market. poor effort is the product of Matty Dagger and having scraped together a makeshift studio setup during lockdowns, then putting self-learnt production techniques and poetry to tape, no fewer than 30 demos emerged which have brought him to the attention of various (now) collaborating producers, visual artists and musicians. Dagger says: “HMRC was written off the back of a few first hand experiences, including working under a supervisor who was high on crack and getting a phone call on payday asking if I would be OK with just half the wage until next month.”
Antony Szmierek – Rafters
Manchester’s Antony Szmierek has dropped the dance-driven new single Rafters and it marries Szmierek’s signature reflective lyricism with pulsating beats, crafting a unique sonic experience that’s as infectious as it is thought-provoking. The track weaves a vivid narrative, inspired by the fleeting moments of a single piece of confetti at a gig and Szmierek explains: “We follow a single piece of confetti that falls over a gig and the stories that take place beneath it. People falling in love, thrown pints, flashes of weddings and birthday celebrations. So much can happen in the time it takes a little paper square to hit the ground.” Audiences have been mesmerized with this unique fusion of rap, spoken word, and dance music which is deeply rooted in Szmierek’s background as a poet and novelist.
Mandrake Handshake – Charlie’s Comet
Mandrake Handshake have dropped new single Charlie’s Comet, a hypnotic slice of psych rock with a thumping beat and soft, hazy vocals. Combining elements of krautrock with art pop and psychedelia, they’ve spiced things up with groovy basslines, fizzy electronics and fearless improvisations. With the release of Charlie’s Comet they share that they had to say goodbye to their original rhythm guitarist and one of the steady rocks of their group, Charlie. “Just as comets return on their wide orbitals, so too will we see Charlie again, flashing through the horizon. And so Charlie’s Comet is born, it’s not a goodbye but see you soon, loved one.”
ARXX – Good Boy
A party track with a whole lot of out-and-proud sensual energy, the single Good Boy sees Brighton alt-rock/pop duo ARXX serve up another of their trademark rock-meets-the-dancefloor indie-electro bangers. Lyrically, the song hits on moments of desire and the playful rituals we enact with others – and ourselves – to be free, loved, and have fun. Most of all, this is a song full of party vibes, with a queer sensibility that sees out Pride Month with a bang. The duo state: “It’s a little bit saucy, it’s a little bit cheeky and it’s a lot of fun! It’s a song about feeling good and making other people feel good. It’s our favourite song we’ve made so far, we hope it makes you feel good.” Heartfelt yet witty & definitely one to get on the dancefloor for – banging!
Sunflower Bean – Shake
New York trio Sunflower Bean are back with the title track Shake from their new EP, which is their first self-produced and self-recorded project ever. They state: “Shake was inspired by our first years as a DIY band, the spirit that birthed us and gave us the chance to have this enduring journey together. We wrote, recorded, engineered, and produced these songs so nothing was filtered through anyone else’s idea of us. We always felt like rock and roll was a feeling, not a sound. But sometimes there is no subverting it or explaining it. We’re now offering it exactly as it occurred to us.” The track sees an onslaught of guitars and thrashing percussion meet head-on with their signature grungy vocals and empowering live energy. Crank it up loud for this absolute belter!
Fontaines D.C. – Here’s The Thing
Fontaines D.C. have dropped another banger in new single Here’s The Thing, from their upcoming album Romance and it continues the album’s weird ’90s pivot. It’s a crunchy, grungy rock tune with a chorus that could almost pass for Weezer. This band continues to evolve in seriously intriguing ways. “It’s an anxious tune that twists and turns in what it wants, back and forth between pain and numbness … an urgent song, searching for autonomy in emotional extremes,” singer Grian Chatten says of Here’s The Thing. The song arrives with a video directed by Luna Carmoon, inspired by films like The Lost Boys and Phenomena. We always look forward to what Fontaines D.C. produce next and they never disappoint – great stuff!
Been Stellar – Start Again
New York City rock quintet Been Stellar’s debut album Scream from New York, NY taps into a vivid sense of place and their keening intensity captures a snapshot of a city coming unglued. A haunting bassline and resounding drums open first track Start Again as singer Sam Slocum wanders First Avenue, trading words with a well-dressed alcoholic, before yowling a climactic refrain of “New York wasted/Start again, start again!” A common thread ties Scream From New York, NY together: its busy instrumentals invite you to lose yourself as if you were wandering through the very streets that inspired the record. A chronicle of the harsh, unrelenting mechanics of New York but also an ode to the emotion and human connection that exists below the city’s cold, uncaring surface.
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