Finding a psychedelic band previously unknown to me is nothing new today, the scene seems to throw up a plentiful supply in 2026. But occasionally, as has occurred with my coming across Leicester’s The Junipers, you check them out then about three songs in the light goes on and you find yourself shouting out “this lot are the real deal!” So, for those who do not feel like reading on, the headline is that this is a great 2026 psych pop album; for everyone else here are some reasons why. ‘Oneless’ is a breezy beginning, you can feel yourself taking off and blowing through the clouds looking at the people down below, “doing what they do.” As lift offs go, it certainly encourages the listener to get on board, the floating nature of the jangly textures is far from lightweight, the voices build on top of each other with a celestial comeliness and there is just about enough of a sigh in the air to ensure avoidance of anything too flowery or whimsical. What happens next firmly locks us in; the thwack of a single drum followed by the steam engine propulsion of a pacy fuzzy guitar hook ushers ‘When She Turns’ to the front. This is psych pop with energy and bite, a little echo of the early nineties’ bagginess but essentially a groovy little nugget for this new 21st century age of psych. ‘She Makes The Sun Shine’ says it all in the title, although once again this bright burst of glorious sunshine pop is rammed in authentic detail. There is a breakdown with cascading vocals that halts you in your tracks like a stun gun and if you care to listen deeper into the mix, those electric stringed arpeggios are merely the front of house for an audio menu that features backward guitar effects, ‘Revolver’ era McCartney bass lines and the most colourful Byrdsian major-minor harmonies you could wish to hear.
I try to make a point in reviews of not flagging up obvious influences if the artist does not do them justice or simply fails to be as good as the music they are trying to emulate. However, I mentioned two mid-sixties giants just now not because The Junipers are photocopying the past, more due to their impressive re-purposing and preserving of classic sounds and to applaud them for justifiably wearing those connections on their sleeves like badges of honour. This band are potent because they are getting the basics right so above all period reference points; my enjoyment of this album boils down to the simple fact that these are incredibly good songs. Not that the studio work is failing to sprinkle some magic on the produce as well, quite the opposite. The way those keyboard chords ripple out as if we have divebombed the deepest lake on ‘Fishes’ is incredible, not to mention how a rising slide guitar sound evokes the sense of emerging once more to the surface. ‘Meadow Song’ similarly paints a picture of the tune’s situation, those chiming acoustic notes tangibly sounding like they were plucked whilst taking a walk through the long grass as the sun begins to set.
‘Swan’ keeps the action outside, each element of the tune appearing to act in response to its surroundings. The semi-discordant haziness that briefly appears is a powerful brush stroke, to these ears early seventies children’s TV performed by hand puppets appear in the mind out of nowhere, a little bit dreamy with a tiny touch of eery but that could just me my memories, still that is how music works after all. ‘Where I’m Landing’ pushes feelings of uncertainty to the fore, the lyric speaks to loneliness coupled with an easy going, fatalistic attitude to whatever fate might deliver. Here again, despite any bumpiness at the heart of the song, the soft malleable nature of the sound acts as a cushion. ‘Who Can Say?’ retains the head vibes at the table, there has been a definite shift towards the matters of the mind as we approach the close. I am thinking of bands like Beachwood Sparks here too, which again is no bad thing. Still, change does jump back one last time, as ‘In A Maze’ picks up the tempo and reminds the listener that, in some parallel universe, The Junipers are one of the top pop bands around. Then finally, this sumptuous song suite closes with the piano led melancholy of ‘Moments Of Truth.’ Plastered in mellotron sounds, it underlines what a sonic delight this little excursion has been. What can I say, I love psych pop, I love psych rock and I love great songwriting; The Junipers have delivered all of that in one kaleidoscopic treasure of an album, go out and find it today.
Considering how grand and satisfying a listening experience this whole record is, it may be surprising to learn that The Delines built it almost as an afterthought following 2025’s ‘Mr. Luck And Ms. Doom.’ These were tracks that had been leftover following those sessions, which makes it quite remarkable how cohesively stitched together this all is as a thematic song sequence. Call it a concept album or a piece of audio cinema, however you view it, ‘The Set Up’ is a deep and fantastic work. The album begins with ‘The Set Up Pt 1’ which with its mournful, late night street corner ambience and forlorn trumpet figure occupies a similar space to Springsteen’s ‘Meeting Across The River.’ Placed here however, as a scene setting curtain raiser it plays more like an overture while our narrator tells the story of an arsonist burglary that went rather well for the perpetrators. A trace of envy is easily detectable in the voice, imagining them today with their feet in the Spanish sand. That desire for escape, to be free from living a life on the poverty line is keenly felt throughout the album and explicitly stated in the title of ‘Can You Get Me Out Of Phoenix.’ This is a stunning piece of music, warm as southern soul but contemplative and yearning too, it resists the temptation to dream of a better life by remembering all the things that can go wrong. This actually serves as a set up lyric for the gut punch of death that arrives halfway through the song and yet, somehow, we are still lifted by the slow pulse of the music even while our feet remain grounded in reality.
‘Jumping Off In Madras’ reprises that aching, streetlight trumpet, its role on the album becoming something akin to a wordless secondary voice. This is actually a clever detail by The Delines because some of these audio tracks are plainly beautiful, even as they feel covered in sorrow, and warrant some appreciation simply as images in sound. That said, ‘Dilaudid Diane’ is built on a simple church-like piano with organ figure and punches through thanks to a vocal that is positively bleeding with empathy as it recalls the sad tale of the Diane in the title. ‘Keep The Shades Down’ is a let’s get it on soul gem with a difference, as the cajoling for human connection is played out despite a background of enforced austerity and an unforgiving outside world. Maybe there are other songs that have essentially said “let’s make out because it’s all we’ve got to enjoy” but, at the moment, I cannot think of another that paints this scenario with such depth whilst avoiding any tired cliches. ‘Getting Out Of The Ward’ is another vivid instrumental, this time led by a piano movement that slides into waltz time and yet, as the music instils a sense of stepping out into the open, that trumpet again weighs heavy, as if the open air is fraught with tension and danger rather than a space to breathe easy.
‘The Set Up Pt. 2’ introduces a seventies crime movie texture, with the story of an embezzling Brenda again causing some approving thoughts for someone brave enough to do the necessary and get out. Another layer is subtly peeled away though, and these private revelations are revealed to be part of a bigger ruse later when we reach ‘Pt. 3,’ but I will not go all in with the spoilers and leave it there. For now, the next phase of this audio adventure is ushered in with another album highlight, ‘The Reckless Life.’ You can picture the scene, being regaled with these stories propping up a late-night bar, several drinks in as a vintage soul band fills the room with retro flavours, the moral of these stories being realised with the thought “a reckless life ain’t reckless until that one day when you finally get caught.” It begins to feel like the seeds of trouble are going to catch up with a few of the characters introduced on this journey. ‘Walking With His Sleeves Down,’ a distant cousin to ‘Mr Bojangles’ perhaps, tells the tale, over gentle sympathetic piano, of another good man beaten into submission by the struggle. ‘The Meter Keeps Ticking’ marches along musically even though the hospital bound figure at the centre of the song feels like he might make hell freeze over. When our movie concludes on the instrumental ‘The Last Time I Saw Her,’ the imagination brilliantly runs wild with what may have become of these souls, its pitter-pattering falls like a heavenly requiem. Wow, with records as well constructed and crafted as this coming out in 2026, I feel sure the album as an art form remains in extremely healthy shape, I give ‘The Set Up’ the biggest possible recommendation.
The big news story at the moment, for those of you disinterested in English football, centres around the most successful and tediously dominant side over the past ten years, Manchester City. They have been able to invest financially heavily in their team and all-round operation for almost two decades, thanks to the funding of their owners, an investment group who count among their numbers a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi’s ruling family are believed to have vast economic interests and therefore it has been accepted over the recent years and seasons that this is where the money has come from to invest into Manchester City. However, the English Premier League has been bound during this period by a Financial Fair Play system, designed to prevent clubs from running at a massive loss and simply throwing money at a team, buying the best plays across the globe, paying the highest wages from a bottomless pit of funding, the kind of which most other teams cannot compete. Now, it has been declared widely in the press this past month, following an investigation lasting years, that Manchester City are guilty of financial misconduct. The general understanding is that by cooking their books essentially, they made it falsely look like the source of their funding was coming from legitimate marketing deals and such like.
Now I am not writing an article attempting to get into the nuts and bolts of that story; if you want to read about it, it’s everywhere right now. Besides, it is far from over. Manchester City are still stating their innocence and there is bound to be an appeal, but all the same, pundits and fans are deep in discussion about the appropriate levels of punishment that should be handed out. There is talk of relegation to lower leagues, bans on transfers, points deductions and most aggressively of all, that the trophies they have won during the years in question, which there were many, will be declared null and void thus, presumably, being belatedly awarded to the team finishing second on each occasion. That does, and this is not something I have ever felt before (1981 FA Cup Final perhaps), make me feel quite sorry for City fans. Yes, they have had it unbelievably good for a very long time but, it is not the fans or even the players fault that these shenanigans appear to have been going on behind closed doors. Football fans invest their time, money and lives into their clubs and being a Manchester City fan was hardly a glory ride prior to the 21st century. Now they are going to be told that all the memories, the celebrations, the shared moments of victory, the parades, love and appreciation they have thrown at their heroes on the field since 2011 no longer count. Like they have got to recalibrate their memories because what they think they saw, the triumphs they felt they witnessed and the trophy pictures they hung on the wall to preserve those happy feelings did not actually happen. If that dire fate hit my team Arsenal, I think I would just quit watching football altogether.
But all this has got me wondering, what if the same standards could be applied to music. What if there was an independent panel who could go back over the charts and the hit parades, right back down the nineties all the way to maybe the sixties, through the eras when the charts felt like a weekly competition that people actually cared about? Try and apply the rules so that any artist or act who had their mediocre music inflated because of a TV advertising campaign that independent bands could not afford have their chart positions adjusted accordingly. Try and make assessments based on who got the most exposure compared to those whose releases, especially ones that have gone on to receive some critical re-appraisal and appreciation, were buried or mysteriously failed to find their way to the shops because of some vague distribution problem. Once started this policy could really snowball, I mean every manufactured act that found their way to the top of the charts because they were boosted by exposure on Saturday night prime time TV in the 2000’s would be scrubbed out instantly. Clearly the public might have to take some responsibility for falling for it, but what if the only time you get to think about music falls on that weekly TV slot where there is a robotic man, elevated to a position where people actually believe he is an authority on music, is telling you the acts his talent show are promoting are the best the industry has to offer in any given year? Then the only time you get to think about purchasing music is on that weekly trip to the supermarket and there, front and centre of the limited CD selection are the very acts being touted to you as the best recording artists of the day? And maybe your children quite like them because they are not being exposed to anything else either? It was nothing short of a crime against music; at a time when people should have been trumpeting the wonders of Belle & Sebastian, The Coral or Rufus Wainwright they were having Will Young and Gareth Gates shoved down their throats. It has gone on to this day; I saw a film with my kids not that long ago about a singer discovering he was the only person in the world who could remember the Beatles catalogue and so claimed the songs as his own. A central ruse to the story was that Ed Sheeran…yes Ed Sheeran… is the modern-day comparable talent to The Beatles. And they presented this notion straight, not a hint of comedy. Honestly, it should come with fact checking subtitles if that kind of idea can be stated unchallenged. And maybe it is true, perhaps in terms of chart placings Ed Sheeran really is on a par with The Beatles, but that merely adds fuel to the fire of my argument.
OK, good to get that off my chest, enjoy the monthly playlist…dig in and dig out etc…
We have made a few changes for this autumn, going forward the ‘Fresh Juice’ feature on this site will be merged with the Mixcloud playlists of the same name… meaning you find all the ‘Fresh Juice’ (a selection of our favourite new releases across multiple formats) all in one place. And here it is with its 11th edition – The Fruit Tree Records Fresh Juice 2026 Mixcloud show along with all the usual video clip links and release information… dig in and dig out!
Ty Segall – Black Paint
We kick things off with the cover star for this edition, Ty Segall has just released ‘Chrome,’ a blistering new LP of garage rock with a band that features Emmett Kelly on guitar, Evan Burrows on drums, Mikal Cronin on bass and Ben Boye on keys so check it out right here: https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/music and see the ‘Black Paint’ video here: https://youtu.be/LPudkEzu03E?si=1wPM5CnT1iDFp7yG
The Ific – Never Going Back
Rogue Records are a French based label dedicated to the classic seven inch single format but even better than that, they also have a commitment to putting out scintillating fresh nuggets of garage rock on a regular basis. You can investigate how to buy the latest offering by The Ific here https://roguerecords.bandcamp.com/album/never-going-back and see some filmed live action of the band here: https://youtu.be/1vtIiOAa7iw?si=1EUyOWj5UpZHtC6U
The Creepy Jingles – Throw Me In Some Rice
Here are some more superior US sounds from yet another exciting act on the Enigmatic Brunch label. They have just released the extended EP ‘Against All Opps’ which features a reshuffled line up and is featured more extensively in the New Release Review section of this site but, if you fancy a bit of try before you buy, just check out the music mix and then follow the YouTube audio link provided, you won’t regret it. Head this way: https://thecreepyjingles.bandcamp.com/ then move it on over here: https://youtu.be/OKZnvy3cOoI?si=XXCA75I8NeejyFwv
Son Lux – Want You To Love
Another band whose bold new album ‘Out Into’ has been heavily featured in the New Release Reviews section of this site. This is art-rock with tangible pop and soul influences thrown into the mixer that manifests as bold music of a higher stripe. There is some fun going forward! Find out more about the band here: https://sonlux.bandcamp.com/ and check out some recent live concert footage of this very track here: https://youtu.be/dkjvhfRfFQ8?si=LxkBlGmW0l_1ZEkE
untitled – Tinted View
Adopting the current trend for bands to write their names in either an entirely lower or upper case font, untitled caught my attention not for their quirky use of lettering but more due to their wholesale capturing of that authentic nineties grunge sound. More information is available through their website here: https://untitledrockband.com/ and the visualiser accompanies the track here: https://youtu.be/66ohqfkT9WM?si=rFcOTgbYMIoOAACS
Le Ren – Free Wheeling
Taken from the latest album ‘Don’t Be Funny Without Me,’ an album that I consider it to be worthy of and rewarding to anyone who gives it some repeated listening. You can find out how to buy a copy via this link: https://lerenmusic.bandcamp.com/ and see more Le Ren here: https://youtu.be/1x8kCOXckDg?si=d_8PRZFURKM6Xe78
These nineties indie pop legends from Australia are returning with a new album on Slumberland Records called ‘When You Smiled You Turned Away’ on 23rd October. They remain fantastically warm and melodic, wrapped in a blanket of melancholy so if you like what you hear, be sure to find out more via this link: https://thecatsmiaow.bandcamp.com/
Gilbert O’Sullivan – Growing Old Disgracefully
We don’t discriminate here, if the old guard are still producing the goods then they get featured too and I doubt there are many with ears who could convincingly argue that O’Sullivan has not still got those singer-songwriter goods in full working order. He is releasing his 21st studio album ‘On The Record’ via BMG on November 6th and you can get ahead of the game and pre-order here: https://www.gilbertosullivan.co.uk/ Then check out this superb fan video for the ‘Growing Old Disgracefully’ track here: https://youtu.be/ZPTlmtmtvC0?si=z55za9_vQ2Onf3Ey
Kalos – Pretty Good Friday / Ladybug
Some essential new Celtic fiddle folk now and what a tantalising taster for the forthcoming ‘Tamarack’ album it really is. It arrives on 9th October and you can read more about this trio, “masters of tradition who set the standard for traditional repertoire with an underlying drive and pulse charged with rhythmic electricity and integrity” via this link: https://kalosband.bandcamp.com/ Also, take a look at this clip too: https://youtu.be/faQQOhoyPxs?si=CRYL0RnddEZmRNV0
White Rose Motor Oil – You Can’t Take Me Down
We kick straight back into some pure and pounding, vintage style rock & roll next with this electrifying duo from Denver who are proving to be masters of the cowpunk / garage country groove. They proudly declare themselves AI free but one listen will tell you that; this track is set to appear on the forthcoming ‘Spider’ album, due to be released on 31st October. Find out more via this link: https://whiterosemotoroil.bandcamp.com/ and be sure to check out this live video from earlier this year: https://youtu.be/hDHzEW13KR8?si=txkPm4_VbXj9W1WB
Pokey LaFarge – Hambone
Here is another artist who is taking the battle to AI, promising that he will not give in to the general malaise and fight it with all his might. Of course, he doesn’t really need to tell us that because anyone who has already encountered this wonderful, preservationist, song writing and performing musician knows he has been doing that very thing all along anyway. None of that has changed on latest ‘Rent Money’ LP, in fact, he is sounding better than ever. Check it out via this link: https://pokeylafarge.bandcamp.com/album/rent-money and enjoy the ‘Hambone’ video here: https://youtu.be/vJ9HVbsjbC0?si=yevwv5klPCV_EJ4J
Kathleen Winters And The Checkmates – Bow On A Bone
How about we follow that up with some undeniably authentic sounding rockabilly? Well, it has happened anyway and as soon as I heard this track, the first original composition this band has written, it had to go in. They are made up of Kathleen on rhythm guitar and vocals, Jacky-Lee on electric guitar, Freddy on the bass and Luigi on the drums and you can find out more here: https://kathleenwintersthecheckmates.bandcamp.com/track/bow-on-a-bone then check out the video this way: https://youtu.be/DyAbLvTe4yA?si=TAoOy64u5x7Q7SgJ
Hollow Hand – Here Are The Tulips
The new Hollow Hand album ‘Wish Road South’ has already been covered extensively on these pages so be sure to head over to the reviews pages if you haven’t done so already. Sometimes though, it is just best to let the music do the talking and that option is put to you via the Mixcloud show and via this link: https://hollowhand.bandcamp.com/ and also through this video: https://youtu.be/_l2IjemvcWM?si=y14xHKr06AteGc53
Brother Wallace – Top Shotta
One of the best soul music albums of the year, ‘Electric Love’ by Brother Wallace, was reviewed here back in the spring. Having caught him recently doing the live rounds I have to report, time is already aging the album rather well and so here is another slice of the Brother’s good groove. Find out more here: https://brotherwallace.bandcamp.com/ and enjoy some live footage this way: https://youtu.be/qpsSw1XkK90?si=glJa6DH5slVQXffa
Menahan Street Band – Palace Of Illusions
The title of this soul collective’s forthcoming album is ‘Illusions,’ due to arrive on 13th November via Diamond West. It is reported to be an album that has recaptured the magic that brought them together in the first place and this sneak preview does indeed seem to confirm that. More good stuff to come soon no doubt and you can make sure you don’t miss out by heading this way: https://diamondwestrecords.bandcamp.com/ and then visit some vintage live footage with the late Charles Bradley here: https://youtu.be/cmN-NO30hEE?si=-rObcS48t66RSisR
Mynolia – Holy Line
This is a new artist with a single out now on Full Time Hobby. It is a hazily dreamlike track that has enough of a pulse to spark further curiosity for what might follow. All I can tell you at this stage is there will be a full album arriving some time in January but for now, you can investigate further by heading this way: https://mynolia.bandcamp.com/ and also see the video over here: https://youtu.be/N8t2RNhZB_k?si=IXZJEkn_S8kki_A6
Hannah Gill – I Like The Sunrise
And we close this edition with an artist who is being touted by many as an amazing new discovery, this despite the fact that her releases can be traced back at least ten years. There is definitely much to explore should you wish but I recommend beginning with the angsty new album ‘I Like The Sunrise,’ the title track of which closes this mix with undeniable panache. Physical editions of the album arrive on 16th October and you can find out more here: https://hannahgillmusic.bandcamp.com/
And just in case you missed them, here are links for Fresh Juice 2026 Volumes 1 – 10
There is a moment during the Memphis soul style strut of ‘For No One’ from this latest Nicole Atkins album, her first of all new material in six years, where she sings “don’t let a good wine go to waste.” As a metaphor for the sumptuous melange of ages and sounds heard throughout this record, I cannot help but think it is on the money. Everything you hear on ‘Drama’ in terms of sound aesthetic contains echoes of golden eras of recorded music. Be it film noir, the panoramic orchestrations heard on classic Roy Orbison tracks, the lush heart string plucking arrangements perfected for the Nashville sound, the trip-hop moodiness patented by Portishead and even the scene stealing dramatizations washing over a Bond theme tune, this is a soundtrack performed with so much class you could probably get away with mislabelling it as the work of the Wrecking Crew. However, as much as these mostly live cut audio expressions make the record sound incredible, they are nothing more than the decorative choices of an artist with a great ear; the element really standing out is the quality of the songs. Nicole Atkins has stepped back into the ring armed with a collection of numbers that are demanding their place in the cannon of classic American compositions. Nicole has explained her modus operandi as “not trying to rehash or celebrate some bygone era. I’m just taking what I like melodically from the past and channelling it into my songs. I like to make them deeply personal. The question I come back to is – how do I make this sound exactly like me?”
None of this is fresh news of course, ever since she released her 2007 debut album ‘Neptune City,’ Nicole Atkins has stood tall as part of a rich new breed keeping the spirit of classic popular song craft not only alive, but an essential part of the modern music listening menu. She has always sung with clarity and force, untroubled by the kind of vocal crutches that seem to hold back too many mainstream vocalists. Nicole puts a song over the old-fashioned way, although such is the effectiveness of her method that there is really nothing vintage about it, it simply remains the best style available today delivering the treatment these tracks demand. By getting inside the heart of the lyric, feeling it, and stepping up with such commitment it ensures no nuance of the song is going to be missed, the Atkins identity is indelibly stamped in these grooves. It all makes me ponder how, sometimes the best artists have nothing more of a USP than just doing the basics really, really well, to a standard that pretenders cannot hope to get close to. Perhaps the problem with this kind of performer is that there is nothing particularly headline grabbing about simply being very talented and incredibly good at your craft, too many people need more sensationalism or a troubled back story to offer their attention but I am here to tell you, putting a brick wall up against the hype machines and trusting your ears around a talent like Nicole will only lead to good things and a life enriched by brilliant music.
By her own admission Nicole approached this record from a place of power, recalling where she was two decades ago releasing a debut and the relationship troubles fuelling inspiration at the time. She admits to being bewitched by the sound of heartache and so deliberately re-connected with the circumstances and troubles faced back then, re-purposing and aligning them with today’s extra life experience and self-growth, so as to produce a new perspective on age old themes of love and life. The signposts are all over the album cover, a bold comic strip style depiction of Nicole looking fearfully up at an oncoming avalanche perhaps? And yes, that really is the famous Sun Records logo you see at the top right corner, her friend and touring partner Chris Isaak (who has a cameo appearance on ‘Cue The Symphony’) having signed her to the label as part of a current drive to honour its legacy by releasing vital new titles such as this. To these ears ‘Drama’ has the potential to become one of the signature albums in the labels catalogue. Nicole has produced a collection where every track could be a single, she nods to girl-group pop with ‘Trippin On Teardrops,’ an electro pulse on ‘Singing In The Mirror,’ Jimmy Webb worthy classicism on ‘When The Night Falls,’ all this and so much more before finally closing with some jazz leaning balladry on ‘Softly As You Were.’ As a whole, this album is a masterclass in dramatic, lovelorn song writing, executed with pazazz and sensitivity, showing a clear understanding of the musical fundamentals that can make a record worth revisiting again and again. If it sounds like a classic that may well be because, soon enough, it will surely become one.
Here is a band totally uninhibited about their love of a zinging pop hook, in fact they positively let that urge run wild on this new – all too short but undoubtedly leaving me wanting more – six track mini-album released on the wonderful Enigmatic Brunch label. The thing about pop, especially the kind of guitar pop we have here, one that references new wave and skater punk but then goes deeper into the realms of giddy psychedelia and multi coloured freakbeat, is that it has to be immediate. Well, you can tick that box off right away, I took one listen to ‘Against All Opps’ (got to love a Phil Collins referencing album title pun, haven’t you?) and right off the bat was convinced I had stumbled upon one of America’s best kept secrets. All these songs get in and get the job done on first exposure, they are short sharp punches to the earlobe and the brain because, and here is the best bit, they all still stand up to closer immersion and, more than that, enhance with a more deliberate listen. The opener ‘You Don’t Trend’ is a textbook example of what I am describing. The briefest of intros and away we go, divebombing into a punk pop nugget built on the classic verses to ear candy chorus mould and that vocal, with all its 21st century buzz words delivered like a hot slice of prime bitchiness. But let those words sink in a little, bask in the skinny-jean guitar solo before staring deeper into those sneering vocals, and it is hard not to conclude that ‘You Don’t Trend’ is actually a precise take-down of modern social tropes and shallow values, with all the vacuousness that entails taking a tumble with it.
It turns out The Creepy Jingles are not so new to others as they are to me, they have previously been a Kansas based four-piece built around the acid witted, lyrical songwriting of Jocelyn Olivia Nixon. They had previously announced themselves with the album ‘Take Me At My Wordplay’ but this new release, arriving hot on the heels of previous album ‘Washed Up,’ finds Nixon with a lightly refreshed and re-shuffled pack of musicians alongside. Maybe that explains the need for a speedy new release from this latest configuration, and if that is the motivation then playing this record more than justifies the exercise. Much is made of the humour, bite and imaginative wordplay Jocelyn deploys but with a band tearing into tune packed, riff heavy and ear worm worthy song constructs, you are being dealt a double whammy of mind and muscle in every song. ‘Stay High’ is a song that gallops into view atop the most irresistible of descending riffs and as the repeated chorus line song title circles us, staying high on this delight is pretty much the only option available. The self-assuredness in the lyric is a declaration that suggests, between the lines, this band know how great they can be. “You can’t hold me down or cop my sound, break my brain, derail my train. Stay high.”
That same confidence is explicitly stated in ‘I Don’t Need A Thing From You,’ a song with the energy and mocking aggression that used to be food and drink to Elvis Colstello and The Attractions, which might just be a reference point in my head thanks to the tracks fruity Farfisa echoing keyboard sound played by Gailen Gillespie. ‘Throw Me In Some Rice’ is where things really fly out of their lane. There is so much going on here that I should merely say go and listen to it; there are mellotron sounds, flute-like spinning textures, dramatic bass breakdowns and a moment where the drum kicks a fill, as the band fall away, that conjures thoughts of the timeless wall-of-sound production. The key to it all though is a brilliant song, a bittersweet lament fired from aching verses and a heavy-duty resolution accompanying a lyric which might be about letting your guard down but then again, the way Jocelyn paints lyrical pictures in all these songs, leaving them open to multiple interpretations, is the sign of a serious talent. As we enter the closing brace of tracks there is no slowing the eclectic range on display, ‘Funhouse Mirror’ is an Americana leaning scuzz bath (superb) leading to ‘Nu Fables’ which, with the “you don’t rock with my friends” repeat, resolutely delivers a genuine sing-along worthy moment for the Creepy Jingles audience to sink their teeth into. Jocelyn may expect all the cool kids to be rolling their eyelids now, but I don’t find it too hard to imagine an ever-expanding audience embracing this band and throwing masses of love and respect their way. On this evidence, The Creepy Jingles not only feel ready to make the leap, but they also sound thoroughly deserving.
Often when a musician or band go deep into film soundtrack work, they can lose a bit of momentum and impetus in their more regular recorded work. Alternatively, on other occasions such as this, the commitment to atmospheric textures, scene enhancing instrumental pieces and the spring of ideas that entails, can result in creative ideas piling up so high, the urge to offload the amassed work into a songs-based album becomes overwhelming. The surfeit of inspiration manifests itself in an LP collection jam packed with inventiveness and sonic layers that are a feast for the ears, which is exactly what I have found on ‘Out Into.’ This is the bands ninth album with their core members consisting of Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia and Ian Chang. All the film soundtracks they have been involved with in recent years have certainly earned Son Lux kudos amongst peers and listeners alike and when you check out some of these credits, including ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once,’ Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ and currently ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,’ it is clear they have paved their way into the upper echelons of the film and music world. Which is, for me, wonderful to witness because there are so many chancers and mediocre talents with nothing to show but a good networking team occupying so many of these positions, that it is refreshing to know artists breaking through on the strength of their ideas and productions have a chance too.
And those inspired ideas do flow with an abundance. These are songs first and foremost, but they are spacious enough to accommodate eruptions of tones and patterns with frequent changes seemingly thrown in just for the daredevil thrill of it all. Where their love of hip-hop can be detected in some breaks, Son Lux are also honouring almost old-fashioned composition processes mixed with an improvisational aesthetic, but their smartest trick is that despite these classicist instincts, they could not sound more 2026 if they tried. The vocals are all airtight and up close in the mix, this does not sound like it was recorded in an aged environment, modern vocal effect tropes are played with uninhibitedly and the present-day electronics that form the backbone of the sound manage to unlock the kind of limitless potential this approach really should inspire more often. The soundtrack commitments worked in their favour as well for, in the gaps between the cinematography focused sessions, they piled enthusiastically into the songs on ‘Out Into.’ On top of that, this was played out over a two-year period, a freedom from deadlines that has leant this album such a fully loaded potency. Lyrically too, Ryan Lott has been able to carve out a thematic curve, explaining that the songs “are about losing and finding ourselves. How we lose ourselves in relationships, in work, in our children, in our pursuits and desires.”
‘Want You To Love’ launches the album into a space that is instantly unsettling and strangely inviting, a warm lurching sound but one that is as disturbed and anxious as a scuttling hamster; something like the bastard love child of FKA Twigs and Alabama Shakes. ‘Endlessly’ intros with multiple voices demanding, and receiving, engagement before building into one of the albums most rousing, self-asserting moments with the lines “love what you love and feel what you feel,” a straight-shooting plea to find oneself and be at peace with that. ‘Even If It Hurts’ presents as ghostly and haunted, echoing synth lines and a spiralling breeze all speak to a sense of revelation and release. ‘You Could Be The One’ is also an atmosphere laden later highlight; a little mournful and pensive sounding to the extreme, motioned by a tremendously dolent guitar line, the tune hits a dramatic breakdown near its conclusion alongside the lines “I’m not letting go of you, despite everything you do.” In yet another contrast, ‘Summer’s Gone’ has an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink busyness, a stuttering jerkiness to the rhythm and a machine drill of notes laying a foundation for a track that is frantically agitated. Arguably the finest example of the album’s expansiveness is on nearly title track ‘Out Into Us.’ An almost spiritual mediation on the overall thematic connections of transformation and change, the progressions sound like they could continue to evolve indefinitely. In fact, there is an extended 17-minute version of the tracks video on view at MASS MoCa in Massachusetts, an installation that defiantly stands in contrast to the short attention span disease that infects so much modern music consumption. Son Lux could not make their point any better than with the wholly immersive ‘Out Into,’ an album that proves the deeper the creative journey embarked upon, the greater the rewards.
There is an instantly familiar feel to this album but in the best conceivable way, so much so that the entire content of this review could just me sitting back and referencing the top-tier sonic nods and clear as day influences that are flying past. I will refrain from doing that, but I will shout out a few of the obvious ones, not because there should be any implication of copying, but actually because the signposts of inspiration are carried out with such class that I want folks to understand what a great album this is. So, we have a very clear Velvet Underground three chord trick swagger, a hint of early seventies Bowie glam and the kind of melody driven pop nous that bands like ELO built careers around and a singer songwriter like Elliott Smith carved out new standards in acoustic pop balladry. The song ‘Black Metal Corpse Paint’ even throws in an old Captain Beefheart album title (‘Safe As Milk’) into the lyric which I doubt very much was anything but deliberate. That said, all the tasteful hero worshipping in the world will only carry you so far if the new songs you wrap it around are not up to much. The song writing of Hollow Hand though is so strong here, everything sounds like it has been crying out for this kind of energy all along. The story of its creation features more than a few top names as well on the journey to an album named after the early‑morning bus route that ferried Hollow Hand main man Max Kinghorn-Mills to the studio. It may be a metaphor for the where he finds himself at with this fourth LP release, for ‘Wish Road South’ captures Kinghorn‑Mills stepping out of his old habits and into a looser, bolder, band‑driven future.
And so, it transpires that Hollow Hand’s new release has emerged from an encounter with reckoning for Max Kinghorn‑Mills, the man whose performing name has always been essentially a solo venture but finds itself very much in a branching out phase today. He hit a point where the songs that were sketched out for the record no longer matched the fire he felt after months on the road. Touring behind previous album ‘Your Own Adventure’ had thrown him into the orbit of other musicians; Irish bands with wild, instinctive energy, Caitlin Rose’s touring ensemble, Aoife Nessa Frances’ world, and a run of European dates with MJ Lenderman that refined his sense of what his own project could be. “The way I’ve made albums previously has usually been huddled away in the tradition of a bedroom producer,” says Kinghorn-Mills. “But with this one I expanded my horizons and it made me realise there’s so much more to playing, and being in a band, than just recording the songs.” Returning home, he realised the solitary, bedroom‑bound approach that had defined his earlier records could no longer carry him forward. So, he scrapped the half‑finished version of the album and rebuilt from the ground up, forming a tighter unit with Oliver Newton and Leo Clarke in a new Brighton studio where the songs were played into being rather than assembled in isolation. With the shift towards live tracking, shared investment, and a richer sonic palette the door flung open to a warmer, more confident record, later pushed further out by Clarence Clarity’s left‑field mixing instincts.
The record kicks off with a sound that should instantly point to the newfound audio avenues enthusiastically being explored throughout. ‘Flowers In The Garden’ is a sweet melange of hurdy gurdy bagpipe noises and drone with an anthemic, sing it from the terraces, melody resolution that truly satisfies. ‘Here Are The Tulips’ possesses some classic tension and release playing, it feeds into the major/minor electric jangle that the folk-rock genre wears in its purest form, but it is executed with such panache, the sound feels like a long-lost friend returning home. It is a gleaming little piece of pop perfection, happy sad in its progressions and simultaneously echoing so many eras and times without sounding retro for a second, I guess this means it might be operating in the realm of the timeless. The joy of plugging in and riffing on an irresistible three chord pattern is indulged in repeatedly. Even on the softer tunes like ‘Love Again,’ which offers tenderness and understanding in the lyric, is pushed on by solid, meaty strumming whilst ‘Kiss The Boot’ finds a chunky bit of abandoned Velvets gold dust to re-use with interest. There is so much more though, at times this could pass for a psych record with its distorted spoken word interludes, found sound, multi-layered string sections and general sense of mayhem prevailing, punctuated by the arrival of another shiny nugget of a song. ‘Heavy Metal T-Shirt’ is actually one of the poppiest selections here and another curve ball is thrown when ‘Drinking With Judy’ ups the energy stakes with some new wave urgency. By the time we close of ‘Green Meadows Of England,’ played out under tangibly grey skies and ‘A Gentle Place,’ a lovely baroque closer, it is blatantly obvious that the one other throwback ‘Wish Road South’ offers is its appreciably satisfying arc as an album. Add to that the absence of any weak tracks or filler and it all adds up to a mighty fine piece of work. It stands as a reminder that even in a post‑Bowie, post‑Reed, post‑Petty world, there are still artists willing to capture the spark and, on this evidence, Hollow Hand is running with the flame and holding it firmly in safe hands.
For this month’s playlist I am accompanying it once again with a giant photo feature. This time I have been digging out a series of photos I took twenty years ago this month at the Spitz Festival of Folk in London. It was a month long event at the club venue on Spitalfields Market and looking back on it, was collectively one of the greatest folk festival line-ups I have ever witnessed. Vetiver head up the playlist because, as I recall, their ‘To Find Me Gone’ album was causing quite a buzz at the time and their set at the Spitz was particularly memorable, especially when Devandra Banhart jumped up to join them onstage. That was one of many highlights my camera captured, including a wild Fence Collective night, a pregnant Beth Orton playing a delightful set alongside Bert Jansch and the brilliant Davey Graham being as enigamtic and mesmerising as ever. Enjoy the playlist and photos…
Tunng at the 2006 Spitz Festival of Folk opening press nightFaces in the crowd at the press nightKing CreosoteMegsonKrokeMi & L’auVetiverDevandra Banhart joins Vetiver on stageCandythief at Fence Collective NightGummi Bako at Fence Collective NightBarbarossa at Fence Collective NightPictish Trail with King Creosote and Adem at Fence Collective NightVoice Of The Seven WoodsDavey GrahamLupen CrookThis Is The KitJim MorayDavid Viner18th Day Of MayBenjamin WetherillJohn RenbournJames YorkstonBert Jansch and Beth OrtonBeth OrtonAdemMemory Band
The music of ANYX feels like it comes from a forbidden, derelict terrain. The sonic landscape overwhelms the listener from the outset as a feverish electric guitar note repeats and circles us until the icy exterior cracks and a full blown ethereal gothic wonderment bursts forth over funereal pounding drums, mournful keys and a voice that sounds nothing short of Nico returning from the other side. And this is just the ‘Ladybirds Spine’ opener, the preview track revealed a couple of months ago that served this album release up as one to look out for. This is the sound of an industrial landscape painted autumn grey, showered with freezing rain and yet humming with a self-fuelling energy and vibrancy that we simply cannot turn away from. It is like the Velvet Underground harvested from a war torn eastern European regime, albeit one where the sixties art school nonchalance is replaced by a biting modern-day realism, ANYX is an entity rising from the rubble with a momentum that can wipe the desolate surrounds clean and in so doing, breathing fresh life and shining new light on the dirt and dust. This is an album with grime all over its tough exterior but possessing a whole solar system of beauty and wonder lurking within the grooves, you just have to get on board and the forthcoming audio rewards are plentiful.
ANYX is the solo project of Berlin‑based artist, musician and vocalist Anna Lucia Nissen, emerging after her period fronting the trio Anchoress. ‘Starlink’ marks her first release under this name, developed in close collaboration with former bandmates Alexander Rathbone and Tobias Textor. The album reflects a shift toward a more personal, self‑directed practice that reconnects with Nissen’s background in visual art: she builds songs from her voice and lyrics outward, adding sparse instrumentation only once the core structure is set. This method gives her work a sculptural, deliberately constructed quality, grown with minimal elements such as harp, keys, guitar and double bass. Alongside this formal approach, Nissen’s writing often engages with broader questions about how people move through contemporary life, including the tension between human‑made systems and the natural world. Her interest in adopting different perspectives (sometimes human, sometimes animal) also informs the thematic reach of the project.
All told though, it is undoubtedly Anna’s resonate tenor voice that gives this art rock project its bones, not only that but it also reveals a sensitive beating heart at the core of the work. You can hear this especially well on centrepiece song ‘Strange Times.’ The bells that toll at the songs opening, a backdrop to radiant guitar lines that possess the pull of a coiled spring, all provide a progressive palate for the vocal that ponders the uneasy relationship between humanity, mythology, technology and the natural world. Then slowly something changes, as the arrangement leaves space for air some light gets in and it suddenly feels like we are elevating, drifting away as the moment fades atop the warmest organ chord imaginable. Earlier the mesmerising ‘Window In Your Eyes’ also shows the organic syncopation that exists between Anna and the musical tools she works around, this time debuting a harp into her sound that, by her own admission, grows into a conversation between voice and instrument. Once again, the closing passage is pushing us into the realms of the glorious. This line between light and shade, tension and release is walked across all nine tracks. It is there in the whispered voice of ‘Spring Birds’ watching from the margins or the way church doors seem to fling open in ‘Marian’ to reveal the most dazzling and divine hymn. It all serves to make ‘Starlink’ the kind of stand up and get noticed debut that should break through with force, there is very little else remotely like this music around right now.
Danny Neill
Follow the link for more on ANYX and how to get yourself a copy of the album: https://anyx.bandcamp.com/
