FUTUREPROOF PICKS 16-01-25

Hello world,

Here’s your first FP Picks update of 2025 and we’ve got a host of fresh bangers inc trx from Skunk Anansie, Horsegirl, Amelia Quinn & 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

Ela Minus – UPWARDS

At the end of last year, Ela Minus dropped the hypnotic pop single UPWARDS from the album DIA. An unabashed and addictive theme song for, as Ela says, “safeguarding yourself, your body, and your soul,” the track is unforgettable on first listen. It is propelled by an unrelenting pulse and sharp refrain as Ela chants over and over “I’d love to save you / but you’ve got to save yourself,” all while aggressive and busy synths bounce underneath, feeling like lasers waging a war against the song itself. The video creates a unique visual and auditory experience by featuring Ela in the center of a circle with her instruments, surrounded by cameras and screens that  capture and show different angles of the action in real time.

Horsegirl – Julie

Horsegirl‘s new single Julie, from upcoming album Phonetics On And On, was produced by Cate Le Bon, and it sees them scale back from the gritty noise of their debut. It’s slower and a bit melancholic, reflecting on the loneliness that comes with moving to a new city, though there’s still that classic Horsegirl whimsy in there. The video for has been created by Amsterdam-based animator Daphna Awadish Golan, exploring themes of moving to a new city, winter’s cold, and unrequited love. Golan’s distinctive process involves printing individual frames of background footage before adding hand-drawn oil pastel elements, which are then scanned to create the final piece.

Celeste Madden – Fever Dream

Celeste Madden’s recently released single Fever Dream is a raw and evocative exploration of yearning, connection, and the surreal nature of romantic fantasies. Written during lockdown, the track captures the ache of longing for something—or someone—just out of reach, reflecting the heightened emotions of isolation. Celeste’s haunting vocals, paired with her signature guitar reverb, envelop listeners in a lush, cinematic soundscape that crescendos with frustration and desire. The song’s imagery of staying close to someone without the ability to express deeper feelings adds a bittersweet edge, blending vulnerability with an almost dreamlike detachment. It’s an intimate yet expansive piece, celebrating both the chaos of human emotion and the messy beauty of life.

Sky Ferreira – Leash

Sky Ferreira‘s new single Leash was written for Halina Reijn’s new film, Babygirl. “I started off with a way poppier idea, and then I watched the film for a second time, and then Leash came to me,” Ferreira explains. “I wasn’t sure they would go for it because it wasn’t so obviously pop. I feel like it embodied the actual undertone of the film more so than the written premise of the film.” The track came at the perfect time for Ferreira, who recently exited her longtime contract with Capitol Records. She released a full-length album with Capitol, 2014’s Night Time, My Time, but has been in career limbo ever since. Her fans and the general music industry have been waiting anxiously for her to drop her long-teased second album, Masochism.

Housewife – Divorce

Canadian artist Housewife (aka Brighid Fry) recently shared heartfelt alt-pop single Divorce, with its themes of vulnerability and introspection. Exploring points of identity, modern life, and relationships, Housewife has drawn connections from all over the world. This thought-provoking and emotive new track further cements their reputation in the indie music scene and it begins deceptively gentle with calm guitar strumming and soft vocals, drawing listeners in with its easily digestible sound. It feels brutally accepting with a twinge of unresolved anger – displayed in the lyrics ‘If I knew you were going to lock me out / I’d have never cut you a key.’ Brighid states: “Divorce is a really personal one for me – I wrote it after experiencing really bad heartbreak that kind of blindsided me and completely uprooted me. It’s about not only mourning the person and the relationship you have with them, but also the life you were building together.”

Perfume Genius – It’s a Mirror

Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) has shared art-rock single It’s a Mirror, from the upcoming Blake Mills–produced album Glory. He states: “I wake up overwhelmed even when nothing is going on. I spend the rest of the day trying to regulate, which I prefer to do at home alone with my thoughts. But why? They are mostly bad. They also haven’t really changed for decades. I wrote It’s a Mirror while stuck in one of these isolating loops, seeing that something different and maybe even beautiful is out there but not quite knowing how to venture out. I have a lot more practice keeping the door closed.” Hadreas calls Glory his “most directly confessional” album and says its central conflict is the “back and forth between internal and external.”

Skunk Anansie – An Artist Is An Artist

Skunk Anansie “strip things right down” on raw & spiky new single An Artist Is An Artist and it was produced and co-written by David Sitek (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foals). Skin explained: “Sitek’s name seemed to be on a lot of records that we liked, but none of the records sounded the same. The records all sounded fresh, but mainly the artists all sounded like themselves.” Guitarist Ace added: “He basically reminded us that the process of making music didn’t need to be that complicated. When you start a band it never is, so it was a good reminder of that, and he got us to strip things right down.” What an utter earworm – we’re loving it here!

High Vis – Guided Tour

Album title track Guided Tour from High Vis is a veritable timeline of 20th century Britpop, at times conjuring up the ringing guitars of Stone Roses. If there’s one thing the band knows, it’s that if we leave it up to the politicians and billionaires to be the decision-makers, there’s no hope for any of us.  We’re in this together, and if you don’t have the desire to take a fist to the face of the fascist regime, then it might be time to get off the bus. ‘You’re desperate to feel more,‘ spits Sayle in his thick, effective Scouse accent. ‘For once in your life.‘ And for those of us who have a desire to feel something – anything – in the face of a society that continues to lull their sheep into a paralytic state of existence, High Vis is the jolt of adrenaline needed to leap off the operating table.

Amelia Quinn – Out Of Sight

Hull based singer-songwriter Amelia Quinn is back with her empathetic new single Out Of Sight – a track written from the perspective of someone struggling with anxiety within a relationship. Amelia states: “I want Out Of Sight to be there as a reassurance blanket to those who suffer with anxiety – you are not alone! No matter how good someone’s life looks on the outside, you never know how noisy it can be in their mind. Please be kind to everyone”.  With its relevant message and beautiful vocal, we agree with radio DJ Ben Kearns that “Amelia’s voice naturally compliments the understated backing track, her voice reminding me of the audible angst in Etta Marcus‘s tones.”