This is another new Mixcloud show we are presenting for 2026, this time focusing on multi-genre archive and re-issue releases that have either recently come out or are soon to be available. Many have or will be featured in these pages too but this hour long taster gives you a chance to enjoy some of our favourites. Anything you like (and I hope there will be loads that you love) be sure to follow the links below and, as always, dig in and dig out…
Tracks – Fruit Tree Records – The Fruit Cellar Vol. 1
Now that everyone has the history of recorded music at their fingertips, I often find myself grateful that my formative years in listening were during the 1990s Compact Disc heyday. Not only were the rare prog rock, sixties psych and other such obscure classics, starting to cost a fortune on increasingly scarce original vinyl, being re-issued with incredible, often remastered, sound quality but regularly the packages would include deep liner note booklets and bonus material of hard-to-find radio sessions, outtakes and B-sides. And what you had to do, hence my gratitude for experiencing the time period, was live with that release for a while. Listen to it regularly, maybe every day for a month if something is particularly special, inviting the music to burn inside your living soul. I know that this element is lost today because even with my appreciation of deep immersion, I have to work at affording albums the time needed to reveal their full worth of hidden delight. All the instant access choice in front of me and my ongoing appetite for new discoveries can present a challenge, giving time becomes a discipline.
But I have never properly lost the appeal that a good CD package can hold, despite my obvious love of vinyl and thrill I get from seeing it properly re-establish itself as a format after some death rattle years between 1990 and 2010. I always check the CD shelves in local charity shops and get a highly addictive buzz from finding a title that would have cost £15-£20 on release for pennies. Card digipacks, slipcases, jewel cases, inner booklets, archival box sets, perfect sound quality, what’s not to like? For all the talk about the superior sound quality of vinyl, for me that can only truly be heard on records released fifty or sixty years ago; if an album was produced to be played on vinyl it is true the original sound quality is often the best, but in the CD age I think any audible difference between record and compact disc is highly debatable and I admit, most of the time, I cannot hear a difference.
I have been thinking about all this because on one of my recent charity shop trawls, I found myself standing shoulder to shoulder with a couple of late teenage years, hungry for music, male shoppers. They had no qualms about me being an up-close spectator to their conversation, so I did ascertain that one of them had recently passed a driving test and was looking for albums that he could play in his car which only had a CD player. And they seemed to have good taste too, openly mocking the Daniel O’Donnell titles whilst perking up a lot when coming across a Johnny Cash or White Stripes album. However, I witnessed the problem with the present-day eternal pick and mix form of audio exploration right there too. One of the lads excitedly pulled out Bob Dylan’s greatest hits, the other responding “yeah that’ll be good.” He turned the case around and read out some titles “umm…’Like A Rolling Stone’…’All Along The Watchtower’…” continuing with bemusement and quickly losing interest. He perks up with ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ but then shoves the album back on the shelf with the verdict “nah, that’s the only one on it.”
It was so tempting to interject at this stage. After all, if they really had never heard those Dylan classics and played the album on their next car ride, how can that not be a life-changing experience for anyone with an ear for music? I remember the first time I encountered ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ with more clarity than I remember waking up this morning, and that was almost exactly thirty-five years ago trying out some old seven-inch singles from my parents’ record collection. The misconception is that the accessibility of everything enables eclectic exploration of all music’s new and old, but the opposite is also true, it encourages engagement of the most casual kind with nothing but that which exists in plain sight on the surface level. The two lads quickly abandoned their search and left, one predicting “we can find all of these for free on Facebook marketplace.” I checked that last claim out, as far as I could see, it was false. And why did I not offer them a word to the wise and say that the Dylan collection really should not be dismissed so readily? Mostly because I recognized the moment. Years ago, I bumped into my old English teacher not long after leaving school, and we ended up chatting about my then‑new obsession with Bob Dylan. He told me, with total conviction, that if I liked Dylan, I’d love Richard Thompson. Did I rush off and explore Thompson’s catalogue? Of course not. I waited nearly a decade and eventually found my own way to him. So, when those lads brushed past Dylan with a casual wave of the hand, I knew they were simply at that stage where you discover things on your own terms (even if the current easy access climate is not always serving them well). I’ve no doubt my well‑meant advice would have landed with the same polite “yeah, sure… maybe one day” I once gave my teacher.
Let’s commence this week with a voice that is being touted as the next UK based soul star to watch out for. ‘Mercenary was released via FAMM in late February 2026, the single following the momentum of Konyikeh’s October track ‘Vulnerability’ and arrives just after her second sold‑out headline show at London’s SJQ. It opens with urgent guitar lines and drums that feel expansive yet tightly controlled. She threads in influences that sit outside her more immediately recognisable palette, drawing on Arabic scales, Gqom, and Amapiano to build a world that feels both cinematic and soulful. Her vocal delivery stays precise and poised, while the harmonies swirl with an eerie, filmic tension. You can find a download here: https://amzn.to/3NIRUOj
Diyet & The Love Soldiers – Give Me A Reason (Acoustic)
This is the first single from Diyet & The Love Soldiers new acoustic EP being released to coincide with their latest tour. ‘The Seeds Of Dreaming’ is a companion release to last year’s full‑band album of the same name. Due out on 17th April 2026, the EP gathers five re‑worked tracks from that 2025 record, presenting them in raw, single‑take performances that highlight the emotional grain of Diyet’s voice and the trio’s close‑knit musicianship. Diyet was born and raised in the Kluane region of the Yukon, she carries Indigenous, Japanese and European heritage, writing and singing in both English and Southern Tutchone. The music she makes with her band touches the meeting point between ancestral knowledge and contemporary life, shaped by her return home after years in Vancouver’s publishing world. Find out more via this link: https://diyet.bandcamp.com/
John Craigie – Dry Land
One of my favourite songwriters of modern times, John Craigie is captured here in a live clip performing a new track from his latest album ‘I Swam Here.’ He is exploring gentler tones on this album (which will be getting the full length review treatment on these pages very soon) as the troubadour from Los Angeles, often described as in the lineage of Woody Guthrie and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, boldly broadens his song palette. His blend of wry humour, road‑worn narrative writing, and acoustic intimacy has become his signature but to put it in straight talking terms, John Craigie is a very fine songwriter and performer. Find out more and get a copy of the album this way: https://johncraigie.com/
Green-House – Under The Oak
This haunting, ambient-adjacent piece by Green-House is from the ‘Hinterlands’ album on Ghostly International. The album treats ambient music like a living ecosystem; lush, breathing, and quietly radical. Their sound folds field recordings, soft-focus synths, and a deep ecological sensitivity into a world that feels both restorative and subtly adventurous. Watch these pages over the coming days for a full length feature on the album, ahead of that you can get a copy of ‘Hinterlands’ via this link: https://amzn.to/4lTy3IK
Wooden Overcoat – Home
Based in Portland’s hazy melting pot of musical wonders, psychedelic pop outfit Wooden Overcoat unveil ‘Home,’ a shimmering, reverb‑soaked single that drifts like a sanctuary built from haze and heart. Its trippy visual companion comes from Italian multi‑arts visionary Francesca Bonci, framing Brant Hajek’s reflection on beauty that can’t quite hold; two people paired as naturally as elements in the wild, slowly decomposing, self‑destructing, and still reaching for each other in the glow. Find out more about this incredible debut release here: https://wooden-overcoat.bandcamp.com/track/home
The Maharajas – Just Drink Wine
Ending things with a bang this week, we have The Maharajas kicking the door in with ‘Just Drink Wine,’ a blast of pure Stockholm swagger that reminds you why they’ve been Europe’s most dangerous garage‑rock lifeline for three decades. Their formula is still lethal: fuzz guitars that snarl, drums that hit like a bar‑fight heartbeat, and vocals that sneer with the kind of conviction you can’t fake. They’re not trading on nostalgia, they are living the 1960s spirit in real time, turning raw R&B, beat grit, and high‑octane attitude into something that still feels volatile, stylish, and gloriously unpolished. It’s the sound of a band who never stopped believing rock ’n’ roll should be loud, sweaty, and a little bit reckless. You can get it right now by following the link: https://amzn.to/4s2mYXl
It’s time for Volume 3 in our series of new music mixes for 2026, all multiple genre offerings and every one either a new release or featuring on an upcoming album. All our mixes are available on Mixcloud, just follow the link on the ‘Music Mixes’ pages of this site which will also give tracklistings and purchase information links for every title, so dig in and start digging out anything you like right away…
Tracks – Fruit Tree Records – Fresh Juice 2026 Vol. 3
If proof were needed that a classic music style can be revived and resonate with relevance today it is here, with Skaracha (the clue is in the name). This nine piece are the first home‑grown Jamaican ska band since the fabulous sixties, roaring out of Kingston with ‘Stuck In My Head,’ a belter recorded live at Tuff Gong Studio in 2025. These young bloods and seasoned pros steps forward to revive the grand tradition of Jamaica’s ska originators, fusing fresh compositions with hand‑picked classics. Though ska has travelled the world and sparked scenes far from its shores, Jamaica has long awaited a dedicated ska ensemble of its own and today, Skaracha brings the music proudly home. You can get yourself a copy of the single at https://www.tipatop.bandcamp.com
Sharp Pins – Popafangout
I am a little bit behind with this one although not as far behind as Sharp Pins are. They go all the way back to 1967 with so many period flashes (everything from Byrds electric jangle to Beatles harmonies and a lovely swish of ‘Itchycoo Park’ flanging to top it all off) this could easily be sold as a forgery passing itself off as original UK psych. What I actually mean by ‘behind’ is that the album from which this tune is lifted, ‘Balloon Balloon Balloon,’ was released back in November and I have only recently come across it. Still, after the ska adventure on our first song this stands as further evidence of older styles ongoing validity if delivered with conviction, honest spirit and a foundation of great song writing; which this music from Chicago based musician Kai Slater clearly is, so check out the album, if you feel so inclined, here https://amzn.to/4uHVCbk
The Lemon Twigs – I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You
As I have taken us back to a 1960s vibe why not step back a couple years more, away from the flowery multi-coloured days of ’67 and into the beat band era that brought us the first Beatles records. The Lemon Twigs are a New York born duo of brothers, Brian and Michael D’Addario, known for their virtuosic musicianship and a flamboyant blend of ’60s and ’70s‑inspired rock, baroque pop, and theatrical songwriting. Here, with a track from their forthcoming album ‘Look For Your Mind’ out 8th May on Captured Tracks, they really nail that early guitar pop period with aplomb. Not so much a Fab Four homage as a loving appreciation of the whole scene, there are just as many echoes of The Hollies or Hermans Hermits in this as anything and, again, it has a place. You want to write a good pop song about losing someone in 2026 and have a choice between sounding like The Beatles or Ed Sheeran, which way do you go? Personally, I am picking the former every time and happily I am not alone. You can pre-order the album here https://amzn.to/3PinYJi
Courtney Marie Andrews – Keeper
Having enjoyed some retro stylings with the opening three tracks you would be forgiven for expecting this country tune to have a similarly vintage feel. But modern country generally does not revive its original sounds from sixty or seventy years ago, even though a piece of modern country such as this retains a classic charm. So this number, ‘Keeper,’ finds Courtney Marie Andrews standing at a pivotal moment in her evolution, carrying forward the emotional candour that defined earlier albums like ‘Honest Life’ and ‘Old Flowers’ while stepping into a more expansive, quietly assured phase of her songwriting. As part of her latest release ‘Valentine,’ the track deepens her shift toward richer textures and a more panoramic sense of self‑reflection. It’s a song that bridges where she’s been and where she’s headed, capturing the clarity and vulnerability that continue to anchor her work. You can get a copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/3PdflQe
Paper Wings – Mountains On The Moon
Maybe I spoke to soon with the last track, the sound we enjoy here does actually recall the early bluegrass tones of acts like the Louvin Brothers or Bill Monroe, although with a far greater emphasis on melancholy and reflection. They are a duo made up of Wila Frank and Emily Mann who weave their knife‑sharp harmonies, clawhammer banjo, and Appalachian‑tinged folk into a just released fourth LP record, from which this is the title track. Across its twelve tracks, the album blends longing, resilience, and old‑world lyricism into a sound that feels both timeless and freshly carved, presented with quiet confidence and luminous craft. You can buy the latest CD here: https://paperwingsduo.bandcamp.com/album/mountains-on-the-moon
Julian Lage – Night Shade
And we end with some of the sweetest sounding jazz guitar around in 2026. The six new tracks that I have picked today kind of skirt around a belief at the heart of everything Fruit Tree Records champions. Namely, that the many sounds and styles in music that have evolved over the past seventy-five years, which often get tied to a specific period in time, are actually timeless when played with heart, passion and inventiveness. This is a great example, Julian Lage may not be breaking any new ground with this performance but does that take away just how beautiful a piece of music it is at all? Absolutely not. It comes from Julian’s latest Blue Note album ‘Scenes From Above,’ where it appears as the record’s seven‑minute centerpiece. You can buy the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4cZDfsi
When the Howling Bells originally appeared on the scene with their self-titled debut in 2006, they had plenty of stiff competition for attention within the guitar pop world. This was, lest we forget, the time of ‘Landfill Indie,’ as wave upon wave of edgy, arch, angsty and sardonic four or five-piece groups with second hand attitude filled the declining CD store racks with miles of mostly uninspired, generic yelping produce. But Howling Bells always had a little something that pushed them above the general pack, a music that their singer Juanita calls a “kind of narcotic, bluesy, dreampop.” The band had a good initial run of nearly a decade before life and other endeavours took them quietly, although not permanently, out of view. Today the Australian trio, whose relocation to the UK twenty years ago paid such huge dividends in terms of exposure and positive press, still consist of the original core guitar slinging vocalist Juanita Stein, her brother and guitarist Joel Stein with drummer Glenn Moule. Other members came and went over time, but it was always the nucleus at the heart and soul of the music pivotal to their return. Had they not felt that same instinctive connection a fresh project such as this would not have been pursued.
The reignition of their subliminal magic was first felt by all three after taking advantage of a 2021 offer to perform together, for the first time in seven years, marking the 15th anniversary of their debut album. Juanita recalls them feeling a “constant drive to want to take it further, and that’s where I think the commitment lies with us: that we know how much power and beauty arises when the three of us come together.” Working once again with trusted collaborator Ben Hillier, they began shaping fresh song ideas, which started to arrive following this reformation, into a cohesive whole at his Agricultural Audio Studios. And so, in an era where older bands are announcing re-groupings and patching up of old differences on a weekly basis, we now have the return of The Howling Bells. Increasingly I feel that the artists who reform merely for a few live pay days should be sold with a public integrity warning, I have seen too many lukewarm shows by bands transparently only in it for the cash. But this does not apply to every act reunited, there are some who feel inspired by the revived energy of creation. Like John Lennon used to say about The Beatles getting back together, if one of them had a great idea and it felt right, he would do it; no amount of money was ever going to sway him though. It took me one listen to the Howling Bells new piledriving track ‘Sweet Relief’ to feel certain; this is one resurrection fuelled 100% by the best possible motivation.
The album is front loaded with a would-be classic in the lineage of bands opening a record with a song about themselves. ‘Hey Hey, We’re The Monkees’ or even ‘Wilco (The Song)’ this is not, but it does gloriously play into the dynamic and dramatic majesty of the Bells guitar sound, wrapping itself around lyrics that look to the skies as they have “always been lost in the big dream.” When the chorus spectacularly summons a sunburst of light and heat, I am briefly reminded of an earlier combo from Melbourne, Australia called Frente! The beautiful sugary drizzle of that band’s nineties heyday was also armoured by some forceful guitar attack, and it is a joy to feel that same seed repurposed by a current unit embracing the maturity and experience only time can bring. This wisdom has resulted in new songs like ‘Heavy Lifting,’ a spinning wheel of electric six-string momentum that puts entitlement and opportunism to the sword. ‘Sacred Land’ is even edgier, the crunching thrash as disturbed as Juanita is dismayed by the horrors of war and inhumanity.
This record is not all about power and pace; ‘Looking Glass’ floats on a circle of swirling keyboard that carries us into the realms of dreampop. The aching ‘Melbourne’ is an emotional centre point for the entire record, telling the personal story of the Stein siblings father passing and a rushed flight back to London to be by his bedside. The singer remembers, “I had two suitcases, one full of merch, so I was literally carrying so much weight; so much beyond what I could carry on top of the emotion of it. And then, unfortunately, he passed away whilst I was on my way back. So that experience was traumatic, and it felt important for me to tell it, and it felt really important for Joel to play it.” Ultimately, ‘Strange Life’ emerges as a triumphant reawakening for Howling Bells, an album that reignites the glow of their arrival and tempers it with the grit, grace, and momentum of everything life has thrown their way. The result is a union of past fire and present truth that feels both resonant and profoundly satisfying.
Danny Neill
You can get a physical copy of ‘Strange Life’ by The Howling Bells here https://amzn.to/4d0pObt
I love it when an album lays down a statement of intent with the opening track. A declaration of where the artist is at both emotionally and spiritually, a let the music do the talking wakeup call that announces the beginning of a potent experience to follow. The kind of track that George Martin used to call a ‘pot boiler,’ and that is the very thing that launches the music on this superb latest album release from Elles Bailey. So, she begins with the title track, a song that has so much drama in its structure, such levitation in the horns and purpose in the chorus lines that you instantly think of words like ‘strength’ and ‘survival.’ These are exactly what this song is telling us about, the southern soul heft that resonates with the washes of organ, the Stax style brass and restless rhythm that accompanies the acoustic strumming launching the tune all screaming of a passion that will not be denied. She is coming out fighting, not just from the personal traumas that lacerate our living experiences but also in defence of her very place in the cauldron that is the lot of an expressive, performing musician. “Here’s to every song that never made the stage” she sings, an honest confession that even after inspiration comes knocking there are still battles ahead. Then she testifies, maybe by falling to her knees – it certainly sound like she might have – at the finale, with a cry of “God knows you’ve tried, but you can’t take my story away.”
I will not be denying you that story here either, for Elles is not a singer arriving at this, her sixth full length studio album, without some baggage and lineage. The authentic Americana Bailey delivers today has, in some ways, been there from the start. An early musical influence was her fathers Chess Records collection which gives a clue to the roots of this Bristol born artists ear for the gritty, rough textures in authentic early US R&B and electric blues. But more than that, it was a severe bout of illness at the age of three when bacterial pneumonia saw her intubated for seventeen days which affected her voice from there on in, giving it that smoky husk that feels so at home tackling the real down and dirty music she favours. She first cut her teeth in an indie band before finding a natural home in the blues‑and‑roots world; a sound that’s been pulling Elles an ever‑growing following. Over the past decade she’s released a steady run of records while her live reputation has surged, thanks to high‑profile support slots with musical heavyweights like Van Morrison and Jools Holland, and the electric, communal charge she brings to every stage she steps onto. This latest release however has seen Elles take a little longer, electing to afford the time the material needed while she both played and worked her way out of a self-confessed dark place.
Bailey may have felt some disconnection, going through a period where she questioned her sense of place and identity, an all too typical phase for a creative thinker to encounter on their journey, but the flipside of that coin is how the light she saw at the end of the tunnel is also visible in this music’s DNA. The clear message at the centre of the animated ‘Growing Roots’ is that, away from life on the road, Elles has found comfort in the simple pleasures of building her own nest. An early album highlight is the bouncing ‘Better Days,’ but there is a tragic association for Elles indelibly tied to this track. It was written by her late friend, Matt Long, the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the award-winning band Catfish. Matt tragically passed away in October last year, 18 months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He and Bailey emerged onto the UK blues scene around the same time, crossing paths at festivals and on tour. “It felt like we were climbing this wild musical ladder together,” she said, “and then he got diagnosed with cancer.” During that time the whole community came together to help raise funds for his treatment. When he died, his parents showed her this song he had written, which Elles honours with the full-on conviction it deserves.
On other tracks, the introspective pull is unmistakable. ‘Blessed,’ a heavy‑hearted soul ballad, turns past hardship into something purposeful, finding its strength in the good people who step forward when life hits its roughest patches. The minimal guitar decoration that punctuates this tune is exceptional I must say, adding a dynamic edge that sharpens the whole arrangement. ‘Constant Need To Keep Going’ articulates the search for motivation in the face of obstacles and fatigue with a steady, relentless pulse that gains power in endurance. A strong soulful surge is never too far away, like ‘Take A Step Back’ celebrating the relief of turning away via an explosive chorus or ‘Angel,’ which has the most authentic Motown stomp you could hope to hear outside of Detroit in the sixties. Originally written as a ballad three ago with Aaron Lee Tasjan, it was a time when Elles mood was low and her mind fearful that vocal damage experienced back then might be permanent. When coming across the lyrics some time later however, she re-worked the song with producer Luke Potashnick into the classy floor filler we hear today. From start to finish, ‘Can’t Take My Story Away’ is stitched together skilfully as an ode to resilience and survival. So thoroughly does it identify reasons to be positive, sprinkling feelings that can lift a person out of the doldrums and insert reminders to take life’s simple pleasures for the gift that they are, that I would steer this record toward anyone who could use a little light in their day; but it deserves far more than that narrow framing. This is a collection built to be cherished by anyone who values musicians who can turn feeling into fire, and who understand just how transformative great playing and great songwriting can be.
This is the opening chapter in our series exploring the moment folk and singer‑songwriter traditions were—much to the horror of purists—wired straight into the mains. The uproar didn’t last. In the six decades since that first electric jolt, we’ve been flooded with extraordinary songs, fearless reinterpretations, and music built for deep, attentive listening. These shows trace that current as it continues to spark, shimmer, and surprise right up to today.
This rousing slice of modern Americana is taken from Elles latest album ‘Can’t Take My Story Away,’ an album that oozes a sense of catharsis and healing. It was written by her late friend, Matt Long, the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the award-winning band Catfish. Matt tragically passed away in October last year, 18 months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He and Bailey emerged onto the UK blues scene around the same time, crossing paths at festivals and on tour. “It felt like we were climbing this wild musical ladder together,” she said, “and then he got diagnosed with cancer.” During that time the whole community came together to help raise funds for his treatment. When he died, his parents showed her a song he’d written, ‘Better Days,’ which Elles gives the full on conviction the song deserves. As well as finding the tune on our latest ‘Fresh Juice’ Mixcloud show https://www.mixcloud.com/dannyneill714/fruit-tree-records-fresh-juice-2026-vol-2/ you can also grab yourself a physical copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4brtznX
Howling Bells – Sweet Relief
When this band originally appeared on the scene with their self-titled debut in 2006, they had plenty of stiff competition for attention within the guitar pop world. This was, lest we forget, the time of ‘Landfill Indie,’ as wave upon wave of edgy, arch, angsty and sardonic four or five piece groups with second hand attitude filled the declining CD store racks with miles and miles of mostly uninspired, generic yelping produce. But Howling Bells always had a little something that pushed them above the general pack, a music that their singer Juanita calls a “kind of narcotic, bluesy, dreampop.” The band had a good initial run of nearly a decade before life and other projects took them quietly, although not permanently, out of view. Now they return with new music in 2026 and are clearly still as tight a unit as before, especially on ‘Sweet Relief’ which, in its own way, passionately resurrects all the energy and fire they first broke out with twenty years ago. This too features on the latest ‘Fresh Juice’ Mixcloud show https://www.mixcloud.com/dannyneill714/fruit-tree-records-fresh-juice-2026-vol-2/ and you can get a physical copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4rx7FWo
Pokey LaFarge – Arkansas
I hope Pokey LaFarge enjoys the kind of national treasure status he deserves in the US because he certainly can make you long for a country that, in other ways these days, can come across like a place to avoid. He remains a prolific and dependably authentic purveyor of Americana roots music played with a style and swagger that has been time vortexed from around 100 years ago. His latest release is a six track EP on Boxer Boy Records entitled ‘Travelin’ With Poley LaFarge: Voice And Guitar Vol.1.’ As well as ‘Arkansas’ it also features intimate performances with his wife Addie Hamilton adding to the overall shift towards some more personally reflective sounds after 2024 album ‘Rhumba Country.’ You can get yourself a copy of the EP via this link: https://amzn.to/4bbjOeK
Josienne Clarke – Katie Cruel
Josienne is back on the road right now reviving her successful Sandy Denny show from 2025. It is that same Denny-like pure yearning in her voice that she brings to this bold re-interpretation of a traditional arrangement possibly best known, to me at least, via Karen Dalton’s recording. Playing to her strengths, Josienne takes an already heavy‑hearted song and drags it into even darker, more turbulent waters, drawing out every last drop of the lyrics’ harsh, irreconcilable truths. Not only that but she also honours the folk tradition of re-interpretation by writing some new verses of her own. Of the accompanying film, director Alec Bowman-Clarke says he “explores how time distorts our sense of self. We see the ‘young’ and ‘old’ Katie existing in the same physical spaces, separated by a veil of memory. This symmetry suggests that the song is not just a linear journey of decline, but a circular trap where the ghost of who she was constantly haunts the reality of who she has become.” You can get yourself a copy of the new ‘Katie Cruel’ single here: https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/
Melissa Aldana – La Sentencia
This easy and sumptuous, soulful jazz is the lead track from Melissa’s latest release on Blue Note Records entitled ‘Filin.’ The whole record is a study in the style of the records title; a romantic, harmonically rich Cuban song form that bridges bolero, trova, and jazz. Playing alongside pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, she shines with a simmering, minimalist intensity that pushes melody and subtle textures into the foreground. Aldana is a Chilean-born, Grammy-nominated tenor saxophonist known for her deep tone, introspective improvisation, and lineage‑driven approach to jazz. She grew up in a family of saxophonists, studied at Berklee, moved to New York, and has since become one of the most respected modern voices on the instrument. The album is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/40uwKpU
ESYA – Heaven
I am concluding this weeks ‘Fresh Juice’ feature with another stylistic jump, this time into some dense electronic shades built on percussive momentum that conjure bleak industrial landscapes of the mind. ESYA is a brand new musical direction for Savages bass player Ayse Hassan who has a debut album on the way in April called ‘Chasing Desire,’ out on AOK Records. It features appearances from Sharon Van Etten, Laura-Mary Carter, Jessy Lanza, Algiers’ Lee Tesche and more. This track is a rousing, uplifting and propulsive piece of dance-floor ready music but lyrically is rooted in anxiety and retreating from a difficult situation. Ahead of the albums release the title track is available here: https://amzn.to/3P9UMEe
Another superb compilation from Ace Records, who over the past five decades have deep dived into multiple crates of rare and wonderful fifties and sixties bounty so extensively it is a wonder they can still put sets out of this high standard. One ingenious way of keeping the releases fresh and interesting in 2026 is the personally curated collections by a genuine connoisseur record collector, of which the vintage rockabilly styled Richard Hawley is one of the best. It all comes down to whether the headline name has a good ear and, having previously shown his credentials with volume one, you can be reassured our host is a safe bet. No surprise really, that kind of faithful mid-century sound only comes from someone with a real, heartfelt appreciation of the originals. And to give the project even more a stamp of authenticity, it is clear from Richard’s detailed accompanying anecdotes to each track that these really were 45s he listened to on his jukebox. There is even one track (‘Man From Nowhere’ by Jet Harris) that was only available on a compilation album so Richard went to the trouble of getting one copy pressed on seven inch so it could be fed into the record machine.
What I do love about this collection and Richard’s personable text is how relatable it all feels to those who crate dug around charity shops, record fairs, and boot sales all their lives. Hawley reminisces about being on tour in the US during the nineties and coming across boxes of singles selling for next to nothing in the most unlikely of places, like the forecourt of a garage. But wherever he was finding his hidden treasure, the thrill of the hunt and the joy in the payoff is pretty universal. That buzz of finding something interesting looking, on a funky unknown record label or with a curious title, taking a punt on it then getting back home and lowering the needle for the first time to discover a B-side with garage-rock gold or a freakbeat frenzy is among the highest highs you can attain as a music lover. Or thinking you have one thing that turns out to be something entirely different but equally sensational; this happened to Richard as he quite reasonably expected The Surf Riders ‘I’m Out’ to be a Dick Dale style waverider only to get a boppin’ hillbilly lament about a man with a violent girlfriend.
A theme of music beloved of Richard Hawley does not necessarily limit us to one genre or era but nevertheless, he has managed to compile a journey in sound that makes sense from start to finish. Certain tracks offer a compelling case for the rich, overlooked creativity of the post rock ’n’ roll, pre‑Beatles years. People like Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy and Link Wray all have a plentiful supply of three-minute gold dust sprinkled in their catalogues, but we are also taken down far less explored corridors too. A little-known singer called Frank Minion comes on like a New Orleans street seller in 1958, and the listener is also enlightened to the unexpected garage band vibe heard in an Elvis Presley track from 1962. The structure of the album sees it front loaded with six instrumental tunes as our narrator rightly points out how massive music without words was in the early sixties, observing that it “makes your brain think and respond in a very different way.” For me, the greatest revelations were in some garage and psych golden rarities uncovered on his travels. The Blue Rondos ‘Baby I Go For You’ is an out-and-out nugget, as is the rocking horse obscure ‘Gotta Find A New Love’ by The Yo Yo’s on the Goldwax label from 1966. And you are extremely unlikely to find one of only fifty copies pressed of Sunshine Theatre’s ‘Mountain’ from 1971, a record that defies categorization, so you might as well experience it here, as part of a dizzying 28 track re-enactment of a night round Richard Hawley’s house, listening to his most treasured audio discoveries.
Fruit Tree Records 