Category Archives: Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 1st June 2026

The Coral – Let The Music Play

It is always a welcome return when The Coral announce new music and their latest album ‘388’ was officially released last week, following a low‑key, physical‑only rollout through independent record shops across the UK. It is the band’s thirteenth studio album, led by this single ‘Let The Music Play.’ The record draws heavily on the sound and spirit of vintage reggae and dub cassette tapes, while still carrying the group’s familiar blend of psychedelic rock, melody, and wistful escapism. Frontman James Skelly describes the single as an ode to the battered Wailers and Lee “Scratch” Perry tapes they used to pick up in second‑hand shops, music that made sense when the world did not. You can buy the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4wY12jF

Trashcan Sinatras (featuring Tracyanne Campbell) – Bad Husband

This bittersweet ballad brilliantly pairs the vocal of Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne with Francis Reader’s tender phrasing on a lead single from the band’s first album in a decade entitled ‘Ever The Optimist,’ due on the 31st July. The song finds Trashcan Sinatras in wry, melodic form illuminating a relationship wobbling between regret and reluctant hope. Their voices intertwine with a lightness that belies the song’s catalogue of missteps, turning self‑reproach into something unexpectedly buoyant. As bright guitars and primary‑coloured pop flourishes lift the mood, the track reveals its true charm: a heavy hearted duet that treats emotional weather systems with humour and grace, not to mention a defiant sense of joy. You can order yourself a copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4u7yZfh

Lime Garden – All Bad Parts

This is a live clip from last year but the song has very much been making its mark this year, especially with strong radio airplay, especially on 6Music. It was a standout track on the bands second album ‘Maybe Not Tonight’ and found them distilling a turbulent stretch of life into a sharp, hook‑bright pop song that masks its bruises beneath a restless bounce. The track moves with the jittery energy of someone trying to outrun their own worst impulses, its melodies tugging between exhilaration and unease. As the band lean into the tension between surface gloss and inner turmoil, the song becomes a portrait of coping through motion; dancing through the mess, even when every step threatens to give something away. You can order the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4wRjc6F

Mclusky – As A Dad

Mclusky released the mini‑album ‘I Sure Am Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley’ digitally on the 20th March via Ipecac Recordings, with vinyl editions arriving this month. This song barrels forward with the kind of crooked swagger only Mclusky can muster, turning domestic absurdity into something loud but also oddly triumphant. The track lurches between sardonic self‑assessment and full‑throttle riffing, as if trying to make sense of the roles we inherit and the ones we blunder into. Beneath the noise and the grin, there is a flicker of recognition, an acknowledgement that growing older does not necessarily mean growing wiser, but it does give you better material to shout about. The physical (or digital) version of this release is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/4uz69oZ

Lambrini Girls – Cult Of Celebrity

More high energy and crunching guitar work is to be found in this next track, which the Lambrini Girls recently released as a stand alone, download only release. It finds them sharpening their already feral punk instincts into something even more caustic and theatrical. ‘Cult Of Celebrity’ tears into the grotesque spectacle of fame with the band’s trademark mix of humour, fury, and razor‑edged social commentary. Its two‑minute blast of noise‑punk feels like a pressure valve snapping or an attack on the hollow rituals of modern notoriety delivered with the Brighton trio’s unfiltered bite. There is a sense that they are pushing their sound into even bolder, more confrontational territory. You can get the download right now via this link: https://amzn.to/4xeTQ35

Chloé Antoniotti – Mangata

We close with a sharp change of pace and turn to some pastoral, melodic beauty in the shape of this ice cool instrumental serenity. Antoniotti is a French composer and pianist who released the EP ‘Mana’ on Cinq 7 / Wagram Music earlier this year. The piano lines in this piece seem to shimmer and recede like moonlit water. Antoniotti’s compositional clarity is front and centre: she favours restraint over flourish, letting harmonic shifts and subtle textural details carry the emotional weight. The result is a work that contains both intimacy and expansiveness, a small, self‑contained world shaped with precision and a painter’s sense of light. You can download the EP via this link: https://amzn.to/4a3vjnp

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 25th May 2026

Alela Diane – Dusty Roses

On her new album, ‘Who’s Keeping Time?’ which was written in the quiet daytime hours of her 1892 Victorian attic, Alela Diane carries the unhurried clarity that arrived when domestic life finally softened around her. Reconnecting with Portland’s creative community, trading guitar lessons with Peter Lalish, sharing tea with Anna Tivel, she found herself easing back into music with a renewed sense of intuition and belonging. That spirit of stillness and rediscovery runs through ‘Dusty Roses,’ just as the accompanying video leans into the family relations that have shaped Alela’s life and progression towards the creation of this wonderful latest record. You can read the Fruit Tree Records full length review here: https://fruit-tree-records.com/2026/05/21/alela-diane-whos-keeping-time/ The album is available to purchase here: https://amzn.to/49NjIc0

Teddy Thompson – Come Back

For Teddy Thompson, songwriting is a kind of magic, the truth in a line either resonates or it does not, and on his new album he writes with a candour that leaves little doubt about its source. These songs have a conviction, as if pulled straight from lived experience, heartbreak sketched in real time as he tries to stay afloat in shifting emotional tides. Opener ‘Come Back’ sets the scene with stark immediacy: a folk‑rock plea from a man reckoning with absence, its lonely verses breaking open into a burst of conflicted longing that captures love’s contradictions with disarming clarity. You can read the Fruit Tree Records full length review of the album here: https://fruit-tree-records.com/2026/05/14/teddy-thompson-never-be-the-same/ You can buy the album here: https://amzn.to/4wOAMIy

Aja Monet – Working Class Musicians

There are a multitude of overlapping tones and templates enveloping the music of Aja Monet, who has just released a wonderful new album called ‘The Color Of Rain.’ She has the pizazz of a street poet lyrically navigating a sound that flies between avant-garde jazz to bluesy soul without ever truly settling in one place, Aja’s style is free in the most literal musical sense of the word. She emerged from New York’s Lower East Side spoken‑word scene as a prodigious talent, later becoming a Grammy‑nominated poet and a genre‑defying artist capable of incorporating improvisation, and political imagination. Now, with years of global performance, acclaimed writing, and community‑rooted activism feeding her muse we encounter ‘Working Class Musician,’ another testament to her commitment to resistance, collective memory, and the lived realities that inform her art. You can buy the album here: https://amzn.to/4dYQlWF

Kelley Stoltz – Not Gone

Kelley Stoltz has long carved his own lane in American underground pop, a DIY lifer whose refusal to play the industry game only adds to the mans appeal. His nineteenth album, ‘If You Don’t Know Me, Buy Now,’ leans into that maverick streak, hook‑laden and witty in a way that is unmistakably Kelley’s. ‘Not Gone’ channels the muscular pulse of his Echo & the Bunnymen years, its pounding drive a reminder of how deftly he reshapes his influences into something singular. This is Stoltz at full voltage: sharp‑edged, melodic, and proof that his creative spark remains alive and kicking. You can read the full Fruit Tree Records review at: https://fruit-tree-records.com/2026/05/15/kelley-stoltz-if-you-dont-know-me-buy-now/ The album will be purchasable, when it gets a full release, from this link: https://amzn.to/4nMYAsd

Jasmine Myra – Likeness And Shadow

Jasmine Myra’s music on new album ‘Where Light Settles’ is built on duality; precision and fluidity, complexity and immediacy, pain and growth. It is her third album and finds the artist fully stepping into her own orbit, expanding her ensemble language into something more cinematic and deeply attuned to life’s bruises and revelations. ‘Likeness and Shadow’ captures that balance beautifully: a piece that blooms from propulsive bass into sun‑dappled movement, its sax and piano lines gliding like light through trees. It is Myra displaying assuredness, translating emotional weather into sound with grace, clarity, and a radiant sense of hope. You can read the full Fruit Tree Records album review here: https://fruit-tree-records.com/2026/05/19/jasmine-myra-where-light-settles/ You can buy the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4dJzHsK

The Waterboys – Don’t Even Have To Say His Name

This is a brilliant new stand alone single from The Waterboys, released on Chrysalis Records, finding Mike Scott in fiercely political form. Written as a direct response to the current U.S. climate, Scott calls it a stand against bullying and a contribution to the wider struggle for decency and democracy. Produced by Puck Fingers and Famous James, the track pairs Scott’s targeted vocal assault with piano, organ, bass, and drums, building a sharp, urgent critique without needing to name its all too obvious target. Arriving ahead of the archival ‘Atlantic Rain’ set and a major arena tour, it is the sound of The Waterboys still burning in 2026. Find the new track here: https://amzn.to/4a5MvZm

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 18th May 2026

Angine de Poitrine – Sarniezz

First up this week are a Canadian duo who are one of the buzz names in music right now, having become a viral sensation in 2026 leading to sell out shows and massive intrigue. They are an anonymous duo performing as Khn de Poitrine and Klek de Poitrine who claim to be 333 year old time travellers whose music is a melange of stiff‑limbed rhythms with a wink of absurdist performance art. But I am launching with them this week simply because, and unusually for something that has gone viral primarily on an eccentricity ticket, their music is really very good. They say that it is worked up over hours of improvised jamming before developing the ideas that work like microtonal rock missionairies, excavating for those underplayed and rarely heard notes between the notes. There is much here to hook the prog heads for sure, not simply that seventies throwback double necked guitar but the bold spirit of instrumental exploration that gives a nod to both the frenzied psych thrills of King Gizzard and the stricter genre lacerations of King Crimson. Not that they arrived here with anything like that level of pre-planning, even the outfits were an off-the-cuff idea after their main band were booked for a local gig too close in time to a recently played venue, so the hidden identity began as a necessity to bag another paid gig that ended up sticking. The main thing is the music is superb and, if you have suffered the misfortune of being exposed to any of the Eurovision Song Contest this weekend, now might be a good time to remember not all hype it tripe. Buy the album here: https://amzn.to/3Rv7qyB

Irma – Black Sun

Next we turn to another act whose popularity has been boosted by positive internet exposure, this time a singer who in the late 2000’s gained attention by uploading a series of cover version performances on YouTube. Nowadays, Cameroon‑born, Paris‑raised songwriter Irma Pany channels her guitar-driven, soul-pop style into her own compositions as heard here with ‘Black Sun,’ a track with intimacy and confident expression in equal measure. Her early candour is still there and the song’s stripped arrangement leaves her voice to do the heavy lifting, carrying a bright and engaging resilience that has become Irma’s signature. It is a reminder that sometimes just getting the basics right can deliver something that feels massive and widescreen. You can buy Irma’s ‘The Dawn’ album via this link: https://amzn.to/49W3Dke

Cole Berliner – The Black Door

A dose of acoustic springtime promise now with some delightfully shifting tones in this second instrumental piece of the week. This is the first single and title track of Cole Berliner’s album ‘The Black Door,’ out on Drag City on May 29th and if the lilting 1970 era McCartney-esque guitar weaving does not grab hold of you, then the dusty analogue textures surely will. Cole Berliner is a San Francisco born, Los Angeles based guitarist, composer and arranger, long recognised for his work in avant‑rock outfits Kamikaze Palm Tree and Sharpie Smile. Now stepping out under his own name, he brings that same fluid, acoustic‑electric sensibility to his solo work and if you like what you hear, you can get a copy of the album via this link: https://amzn.to/3PrbPCc

Ruti – I’ll Be Your Friend

The opening bars might fool you into believing we have some more acoustic introspection with this one but no, this zinger has an infectious build in momentum before erupting into the most glorious of pop-song chorus lines. Raised in Essex with Nigerian and English roots, Ruti has always had a gift for unforced melody, and here that instinct is paired with a production that plays right into that strength. The track moves with an easy, open‑hearted pulse, part folk glow, part modern pop shimmer, with Ruti’s vocal assured in a way only hinted at before with their more minimal piano-led work. It is the kind of song that suggests a writer growing and finding their voice, pointing to exciting potential going forward. ‘I’ll Be Your Friend’ is available as a download via this link: https://amzn.to/4dNKraO

Brother Wallace – Gone With The Wind

This finds Brother Wallace folding his gospel‑trained power into a smoother soul glide without losing any of the momentum that drives his debut. The Georgia‑born singer and pianist, a lifelong musician who was directing choirs by fourteen and later teaching music, brings the same rhythmic command to this track that animates the album’s harder‑hitting moments. What begins as a softer detour soon reveals its own pulse: a groovy piano break that nods to northern soul footwork and keeps the energy simmering beneath the surface. Wallace’s voice, rich with lived‑in grit and conviction, anchors the whole thing, reminding you that even at his most restrained he still pushes forward with purpose. It is a sleek, infectious highlight from an artist whose late‑blooming debut lands with the confidence of someone ready for this stage all along. Get yourself a copy of his ‘Electric Love’ album via this link: https://amzn.to/4eTdevI

Josienne Clarke – Banks Of The Sweet Primroses

Following up her potent re-working of ‘Katie Cruel’, Josienne Clarke is pushing onwards with her 21st century shakedown of traditional folk material. It is in the bloodline of folk song to be passed forward then re-interpreted with fresh resonance and in the hands of a switched on, emotionally connected artist like Josienne, this music is in safe hands. The video turns a simple stills session into a wry study of how performance erodes privacy, following a musician caught between sincerity and self‑presentation as she tries to decide what version of herself can withstand being framed. Its looping circular motif, part portrait, part trap, underlines the humour and the fatigue, leaving a small, stubborn triumph in the fact that something true survives the machinery of visibility. You can download the track via this link: https://amzn.to/4tGPPBk

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 11th May 2026

Ray Bull – All That You Are

I have been reading a lot in recent weeks about how there is an uprising in pop music of new young acts who are doing it right. They are leaning in to the performing and production aesthetics that gave the form such potency and variety in its sixties and seventies heyday, as well as placing emphasis on musicality, style and non-generic personality. In other words they are rejecting the formulaeric tropes that makes so much of the current chart music landscape a bland, uninspired and largely unloveable environment. That it is a young persons movement is welcome because, so often when similar groundswells of resistence have appeared, you look at the actual people involved and it always seems to comprise of former members of bands from earlier decades or seniors having a belated roll of the dice. Which is all perfectly valid and often delivers some magic, but that this latest unconnected collective appears to be populated by the youth, that does give me hope for the years ahead. The art of the pop song pioneered by the Beatles, Kinks and Rolling Stones etc will have a future if this kind of forward flow can still occur at ground level. America’s Ray Bull are one such example of a band that are treating the form with the respect and craftsmanlike quality it deserves. If you want to know more we have just published a review of their new album on this site and furthermore, you can get a copy of that album here: https://amzn.to/42Z18d1

Eel Men – When I Get Rich

In the UK the mod sounds of popular music as minted in the sixties, re-positioned in the punk years then persuasuvely re-sharpened by Blur’s British music manifesto ahead of the Britpop boom is another design classic that never dies out. Not that it troubles the charts much these days but all the same, it is exciting to come across a band like Eel Men and hear that the energy and the attitude, not to mention the thrill of a bangin’ new single with a snotty cutting edge, still exists among what is left of the grass roots music scene. They are a North London band about to release a 10″ EP called ‘Glass Hammers’ which includes this track. It is a middle finger to the ludicrousness of the never-ending quest for more, the thought that life might suddenly make sense once a certain threshold is reached, and the quiet realisation that it rarely resolves that way. Check out the forthcoming new release here: https://eelmen.bandcamp.com/album/glass-hammers-ep

Sharp Class – Faith In The Brakes

Drinking from a similar fountain of inspiration are Sharp Class who, with this driving slice of three minute perfection, are proudly wearing their allegiances on their made to measure sleeves. I have no issue with a band giving such an up front nod to The Jam because, ultimately, what they are showing loyalty to is an attitude and a lifestyle that has music high, or even top, on the list of priorities. That was all Paul Weller’s breakthrough band were doing and he did not hold back on proudly displaying the effects Steve Marriott and Pete Townshend had on his sound and look. ‘Faith In The Brakes’ is the first single and title track from the bands upcoming third album. It is said to be a song about someone stuck in an extreme tunnel vision mentality but whether or not it was insipred by personal experience, it is that very focus and assuredness in what they are about that makes Sharp Class such a hot proposition. Get ready to buy the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4uHoD6p

Kathleen Halloran – Showstopper

We are moving into a rootsier rock sound with this one as Kathleen Halloran shows some love for the scuzzy glam and decadence of the early seventies. It is available on her debut solo album ‘Nobody’s Baby’ which represents the moment she is stepping out of the shadows, having been an in demand touring guitarist, and finally forging a musical identity of her own. It is a debut built on clarity of purpose: sharp songwriting, unforced emotional weight, and a refusal to hide behind virtuosity even though she easily could. Roscoe James Irwin’s production gives the record its warm, lived‑in glow, but the spine is Halloran’s own. You can get the album via this link: https://amzn.to/435JCnr

The Black Keys – She Does It Right

This is a track from the new Black Keys ‘Peaches!’ album which sees them turning their hands to a set of covers. It was cut live in the room while Dan Auerbach was caring for his father during his final illness. What began as friends jamming to lift the weight off his shoulders hardened into a raw, unvarnished document of the band reconnecting with the blues that first lit the fuse. Across these reinterpretations (from George Thorogood to Junior Kimbrough) you can hear the duo shedding polish, chasing feel over finesse, and rediscovering the grit that once defined them. That is especially evident on this Dr Feelgood cover, a jerky stimulant fuelled thrash in its original form, it is now a “let’s spend the night together” piece of cranked up blues rock filth – and I mean that as a compliment. You can get yourself the album via this link: https://amzn.to/3OVurKt

Tidetied – First Of Spring

Finally this week another new band that I strongly urge you to keep an eye on. I featured their superb song ‘Valley’ in the third volume of our ‘Fresh Juice New Releases’ Mixcloud shows (see the Music Mixes page on this site) and now this newly available live performance further enhances the evidence that there might be something pretty damn good going on here. They came together a couple of years ago from the debris of Thomas Haywood’s post‑Blinders project Whitehorse, whilst John McCullagh and Nathan Keeble joined from other Sheffield loose fits. For now they have been finding their footing on the live circuit but the music coming out has moodiness, poetry, dynamics and some handsome melodic flashes so keep a watch in this direction https://tidetied.com/

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 4th May 2026

Gun Outfit – Teardrops (Classic Hell On Earth)

Soon to return on 8th May with a double album, ‘Process And Reality,’ that marks twenty years of Gun Outfit, this is a sneak preview of a track from the record that was made amidst the heat and uncertainty of wildfires. Something in the warm sounds capture that contrast of the familiar and the unknown, just as our senses open out like a valley appearing ahead evoke a sense of wonder and trepidation at the ever changing natural world. Of the song, the bands Dylan Sharp says it was “written in the wake of one of the endless iterations of fire, prior to the one that burned Altadena. It is not about the fires though. It’s about the futility of caring.” So, maybe this is the sound of a band retreating into their music if that be so, at least Gun Outfit appear to be in fine command of the one element in their lives that they do have some control over. The album can be found here: https://amzn.to/49n30Qp

Mod Lang – Try Your Love

It feels strange but also rather pleasing that one of the bands being touted as the bright young hopes in the pop world are making music essentially identifiable as sixties flavoured folk-rock. Or jingle-jangle guitar pop, or even classic Britpop leaning indie but whichever way you identify it, this is pop music that would do the music world a whole lot of good if it became, well, massively popular. But lets not get ahead of ourselves and besides, when did becoming massively popular ever do any band a lot of good? The really promising thing is this, for all the retro signposting of their clothes and style, the feeling you get when listening to Mod Lang is that it is the music they are really throwing creativity into, which means they have their priorities bang on. Keep an eye on them, or jump right in immediately and get the ‘Borrowed Time’ album, available here today: https://amzn.to/4uqHT88

Khun Narin Electric Phin Band – Sut Sanaen

The Khun Narin Electric Phin Band are about to return with their first new album in a decade, ‘III,’ which is due out on 15th May via Innovative Leisure. These exotic psychedelia merchants are a multi-generational ensemble from rural Thailand whose ecstatic performances have quietly become a global cult phenomenon. This is their take on one of the foundational melodic patterns in the musical tradition of the Isan people from Northeastern Thailand. The band originated as a celebration ensemble for rural ceremonies, particularly pre-ordination fire rituals. What begins as a spiritual procession often transforms into something more transcendent, musicians of all ages locked into spiralling repetition, rhythms surging forward, the entire village pulled into a shared state of euphoria. Obviously to English ears psychedelia is a fairly loose musical reference point, but it is hard to argue that the hypnotic sound does not take you on a head spinning trip just as the best music falling under that general umbrella can often do. Find out more about the forthcoming album here: https://www.innovativeleisure.net

Jason Joshua – A Real Good Woman

The first out and out soul music I am offering you this week and it is a really great one. Jason is a Miami born soul singer with the appropriate nickname ‘The Golden Voice.’ His is a classic sound that is undeniably fine in the authentic way it combines Latin Soul, classic R&B, Boogaloo and a true funk heartbeat that has the patina of something matured and refined. This single arrives ahead of a forthcoming album from Jason called ‘Terapia’ and it is high on my list of future releases to make sure I do not miss out on. Find out more via the link: https://mangohillrecords.bandcamp.com/album/terapia

Joan As Police Woman – Anyone

The more Joan keeps drip feeding teasers for her 12th June release of the re-worked, re-imagined and newly recorded take on classic debut album ‘Real Life,’ the more excited I am becoming to hear it. It is so rare for any artist to revisit older material, especially in a recording studio, and produce something that can bare any comparison to the original but you know what, she might just have done it with ‘Real Life Evolution.’ And I absolutely love the original. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what is elevating these versions beyond a nostaligic re-run but I suspect a big factor is this, Joan still sounds wholly connected to the material emotionally. I will leave it at that for now as I suspect a full length review on these pages will follow nearer the time but still, you have got to admit this is gorgeous haven’t you? Pre-order via this link: https://amzn.to/3PgZGj0

Gabrielle Cavassa – Diavola

Let us conclude this weeks ‘Fresh Juice’ with some sumptuous Jazz on the ever reliable Blue Note label. Here Gabrielle is accompanied in a live take by Gabe Schneider on guitar and it is one of those hypnotic takes where two musical performers lock into an impenetrable zone and seem to play as one. This is the title track from the singers debut album that is produced by a couple of Blue Note heavyweights in Joshua Redman and Don Was. The album stands as a textbook calling card first release for an artist that a label clearly has high hopes for. It balances original material with re-arrangements of other titles that emphasise the artists range and individualist style. Redman’s part in Cavassa’s career runs deep, for it was his manager a few years ago who first came across her singing at a New Orleans wedding. That it should lead to a debut like ‘Diavola’ makes it one of those magical stories in music that is usually left in the hands of fiction. This could be the launch of something very real indeed. You can buy the album via the link: https://amzn.to/3QUDMT9

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 27th April 2026

Michael Stipe – The Rest Of Ever

This week’s half dozen new music recommendations seems to have settled around a theme of historically much-loved artists stepping back into the spotlight. I think it was sometime around 1991 when I first read Michael Stipe in an interview talking about how he was planning a solo album. Now, fifteen years on from R.E.M.s split he is still building up to releasing that solo debut. This might suggest to some he is not too worried about it or, equally, may point to his compiling a work of such high quality that there is no intention of putting it out until it is perfect. Luckily, the evidence available on this new TV performance speaks to a slow paced creation being more likely thanks to the latter. There is still no release date available other than Michael’s prediction it would come out before the end of 2026 and sharing that he is now in the “final stages” of the recording and writing process.

Graham Coxon – Billy Says

When not tied up with Blur reunions Graham has spent a large part of his music life focusing on The Waeve with partner Rose in recent years. This forthcoming solo release does not indicate a shift back to working under his own name, it is actually from a previously unissued record recorded in 2011 and set for full release on 19 June, 2026; part of a comprehensive reissue of Coxon’s complete solo catalogue, spanning 9 studio albums and 3 original soundtracks, across the next 12 months. ‘Castle Park’ was recorded in 2011 as part of the ‘A+E’ (2012) sessions. Originally intended as a follow up to ‘A+E,’ the release was postponed due to Blur activity in 2012, before Coxon moved on to other projects. The album is a collection of 10 songs that lean into Graham’s classic mod sound, with lead single ‘Billy Says’ – a longtime feature of Coxon’s live set – already familiar to fans and now finally available for the first time. Get yourself on the pre-order list here: https://amzn.to/4eLro1H

Tift Merritt – Someone To Watch The Band With Me

Here is another falling firmly into the long overdue category. Back in the early years of the 21st century Tift was one of the most exhilarating, engaging and deliriously infectious performers on the Americana circuit. Then she put out world weary records like ‘Travelling Alone’ proving she was not limited to the rhythm and the sawdust but was also capable of writing in the country style with real emotional clout and authenticity. Put simply, she has long been one of the most dependably brilliant artists to come out of America in modern times and so with ‘Someone To Watch The Band With Me’ showing no loss of cutting edge, taken from the album ‘Sugar’ due out June 26th via One Riot Records, it already sounds like one of the releases of the summer is on the horizon. Pre-order here: https://amzn.to/4d8WNd6

Ringo Starr – Long Long Road

That Beatles magic still holds me under a spell in 2026, I make no apologies for that. Ringo Starr’s new album, from which this is the title track, is already out and it feeds into his long declared love of country music. I think the thing that I enjoy best is simply that this comes out because Ringo still has the hunger to make a great album. There is enough care and attention on display, an incredible array of modern Americana talent contributing and the whole affair is coated with that unmistakable Ringo, peace and love, personality that remains impossible to get cynical about. And for Beatles trainspotters this video, and indeed the album cover, has a real improbable gem of a detail. That purple ruffled shirt Ringo wears is the very same shirt that he is pictured wearing in the inner photos of ‘The White Album’ in 1968. This is a garment older than me that means. Altogether now, Ringo Starr is making Ringo sounding music and there are fresh Paul McCartney sounds just around the corner too. The dream may have been over yesterday, but with fading sunshine like this still pushing through the cracks in the concrete, perhaps there is something to be said for still treasuring a fantastic thing while we can. The album is available here: https://amzn.to/3R42ccT

Beth Orton – The Ground Above

This is the lead title track from a new album that is due to arrive in July. It should come as no surprise to anyone following Beth’s career over the past thirty years that she continues pushing boundaries with her sound and craft. From the beginning she was so much more than an acoustic troubadour, Beth was an alchemist fusing the rougher textures of organic sounds with forward reaching loops, electronics with an ear for the DJ wizardry of dance music. Beth has never been overly earnest or a muso and she instinctively avoids a comfort zone like the plague. And so it is right here, where we find her making music that is immediately of another plane. Not quite Scott Walker in the latter part of his career but this is a step towards it, the form is free and the singing a ghostly echo, the textures shift and it is hard to tell if we are moving towards a diffident dance motion or free jazz. But Beth always had soul too and in among the unsettling audio movements the human touch of her vulnerable voice cuts through. Should be an interesting album so get yourself a pre-order here: https://amzn.to/421arc7

Beck – Ride Lonesome

And so we wind things up this week with one more legend still proving they have the quality in their work to stay relevant. This is a taste of the mellow, introspective Beck that arguably has overshadowed his hip-hop tendencies this century, at least in terms of reception. Still, it is very exciting to hear that he can still do this so well and the man himself has described to DIY Magazine that it as the “first indication of a different yet familiar direction” for his music in the year ahead. The standalone new single is available via this link: https://amzn.to/4tBuOIU

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 20th April 2026

Tom Waits & Massive Attack – Boots On The Ground

New music from Tom Waits seemed to have totally dried up after his wonderful 2011 album ‘Bad As Me’ so anything fresh from the man was always going to grab some attention. Massive Attack too have been quiet since 2020 but here they are, both working together, on a song with subject matter that could not be any less a cause for celebration. Instead, these musical heavy weights are reacting in audio to the devastating emphasis our modern world has placed on waging war and disregarding the precious nature of human existence. At least they are picking up the baton visionaries like Bob Dylan previously carried in reacting to the horrors of the present time in song but typically for these artists, there is no sugar coating the terror of the situation. Luckily, Tom has not limited his resurrection to this one track, a twelve inch single of the release will follow that also has a new and exclusive Waits b-side entitled ‘The Fly.’ The man himself says this. “One day many years ago, I accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate. Their long release delay never worried me. Today, as in all of mankind’s yesterdays, guarantees this type of song will never go out of style. Man’s folly of fiascos is a feast for the flies. Hence, the b-side of Massive Attack’s upcoming 12 inch features my appreciation for the winged nuisance.” You can get yourself a copy of the record via this link: https://amzn.to/4sKPA7N

Johanna Samuels – White Limousine

Johanna Samuels has kicked off her next chapter with ‘White Limousine,’ a crisp, beautifully measured single marking her arrival on the Odd Man Out label. It is the first taste of a new album currently being readied for release, though specifics are still to come. If this track is any indication, Samuels is gearing up to deliver a record that will be getting a lot of the right kind of attention. For now, get going in this ‘White Limousine’ and enjoy an excursion that takes in suspence and an aching longing all wrapped up in warm hazy sounds that find room for sun-drenched guitar solos, yearning vocals and a Mercury Rev ‘Deserters Songs’ style eeriness. The video is pretty spectacular too, especially that fading in and out radio signal effect. Keep an eye out for the album, I am sure to be on it here at Fruit Tree Records upon arrival but for now you can download the single via this link: https://amzn.to/4tYcgCD

Parlor Greens – Eat Your Greens

This is a scorching live in the studio version of the lead track from the Parlor Green’s new sophomore album ‘Emeralds.’ The nuts and bolts of the band are Tim Carman holding down the beat on drums, Jimmy James who, in a heartbeat, can take us to funky town then back to soul city via his electric guitar and Adam Scone, who can spray paint the room in the most vibrant of moddish colours on that fruity organ and keys. The album is a soul-jazz joyride from start to finish and will be covered in greater depth on these pages very soon but for now, get some of the good stuff down with ‘Eat Your Greens’ and if this one tune is enough to convince, and why wouldn’t it be after all, you can get straight onto the new album via the link right here: https://amzn.to/4cuYXT2

Gorillaz featuring Sparks – The Happy Dictator

For over twenty five years now Gorillaz has proven to be the perfect situation for Damon Albarn to paint his musical visions and realize his bountiful supply of ideas and inspirations. Clearly he needed something fluid and widescreen enough to explore, without boundaries, his open eared approach to music with freedom and rather satisfying mainstream success. His feel for a commercial hook is beyond doubt at this point and the thing I enjoy the most is how he almost smuggles quite mature art-rock into the mainstream through the back door. Of course, Sparks were a band who did the very same thing, blessed as they were with a gift for timeless melody, eye catching presentation and a flare for absurdist, head scratching delivery in the way the Mael brothers performed. And here they are with an outstanding track from new album ‘The Mountain,’ working together and proving that this town actually is big enough for the both of them. You can get the latest release this way: https://amzn.to/41IIYvO

Fruit Bats – The Landfill

Fruit Bats make a welcome return on June 12th with ‘The Landfill’ album, the title track of which is presented here. It is a vibrant full‑band project released via Merge Records. The record finds Eric D. Johnson in a prolific streak following 2025’s intimate ‘Baby Man,’ expanding his palette with renewed energy. ‘The Landfill’ anchors the album’s central metaphor: surveying the future from atop the accumulated layers of personal and cultural history. The accompanying video, directed by longtime collaborator Adam Willis, playfully riffs on cult‑band mythology and the strange double life of an artist both celebrated and obscure. You can pre-order yourself a copy via this link: https://amzn.to/3OtaHO0

SPELLLING featuring Jean Dawson – Ammunition

And finally for this week, some rousing new music from an artist who has long been highly rated on these pages. SPELLLING continues to expand the world of her last album ‘Portrait Of My Heart’ with a new version of ‘Ammunition,’ this time reimagined as a duet with Jean Dawson. The track follows recent remixes featuring Weyes Blood and Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, extending the original album’s collaborative afterlife. Cabral recasts the song’s romantic R&B core into a darker, synth‑lit fairytale, leaning into the outsider sensibilities that define her latest work. It arrives as the release on which it originally appeared continues to draw widespread acclaim, praised for its raw self‑reflection and its bold, genre‑bending emotional clarity. Head to Bandcamp for more on the latest single and the original album is still available for purchase via this link: https://amzn.to/487Kc7l

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 13th April 2026

GALVEZTON – Roll To G-Town

The heritage behind the musical journey of Robert Kuhn is rich with iconic Americana singer-songwriters, names like Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen all filtering into the young Kuhn’s subconscious via the tastes of his father. But post pandemic, the GALVEZTON project, under which Robert creates his music, has evolved naturally into a territory that the mere troubadour characterisation can no longer contain. This is a helter skelter dive into a cosmic-Americana sound that is dizzy with the heat and punch drunk on ideas and expression. This track, an audio interpretation of bouncing back off the ropes, is from the new GALVEZTON album ‘Ocean Cabaret’ and you can find out more about the LP by heading this way https://www.galvezton.com/

Brother Wallace – Who Do You Love

This very tasty slice of hot buttered soul is taken from Brother Wallace’s debut album ‘Electric Love’, set to be released on the 8th May via ATO Records. The West Point, Georgia-bred singer, pianist, and soul revivalist is about to deliver a whole albums worth of the authentic, pounding and infectious, real-deal music that resoundingly kicks the doors wide open with ‘Who Do You Love.’ A new artist he may be to many, but this is the sound of a talent and a passion that has been slowly boiling for years and is about to overflow with a sonic territorial take over that should ensure the dancefloor is a wonderful place to be in 2026. The album was produced by Dan Taylor of The Heavy and recorded at Peter Gabriel’s studios near Bath, if this is the your first exposure thus far I can confidently predict it will not be your last. Pre-order the album here: https://amzn.to/4cjup6z

Ella Clayton – Please Me

Talking about new music that is authentically emotive, there is some fresh soulful folk just appearing on the horizon that also threatens to grab the attention of listeners with an ear for multiple genre mash ups and honest, heartfelt songwriting. Just taste the way Ella wraps some unforced, passionate soul-bearing around the lyrics of this, the opening track on her forthcoming second album called ‘Could It Be You?’ The record is set for release on April 24th with a launch show taking place at London’s 100 Club. Of the new album Ella says it “is a journey through longing and self-interrogation, the search for something or someone outside of myself to tell me who I am and what I want. I hope that people recognise themselves in these snapshots from my life and take comfort in the shared experience.” Check it out for pre-order here: https://amzn.to/4mnpc2e

Strange Fruit – Monopolar

The electronic / dreamgaze outfit Strange Fruit have just released their ‘Drips’ EP on Gentle Tuesday Recordings from which this hazy psychedelic space trip is taken. Fans of Stereolab, Kraftwerk or Broadcast, not to mention the head spinning loops and distortions of the original Shoegaze movement, are going to find much to love in the work of this Jakarta-based collective. They are futuristic and electro yet their sound still has the audible touch of the human hand to it, which brings the music a heartbeat that allows it to generate all the right kind of responses in our listening brains. And following eleven years of experimentation, the band themselves see this as a big leap forward step thanks to the involvement of world-class producers Hardway Bros. along with Tom Furse and Jonathan Kusuma. Get yourself a copy via this link: https://amzn.to/4mK2KRj

Aja Monet – Elsewhere

In its own way, this is a psychedelic melange as well, albeit with a far more urban, jazzy swagger. Featuring the jazz-soul talents of Meshell Ndegeocello and Georgia Anne Muldrow, this is a tantalising leap into a literary and spiritual space, a place where the consequential poetry of Aja Monet can breathe and let the dreamy, spoken words cast their spell and work their magic. It is not exactly rapping, Aja is far more hypnotic than that as she resists pushing her verses into a rhythmic pattern, more like letting them hang in the air for the mystic music to find a connection to gravitate towards. Either way, the effect is stunning and the forthcoming Aja Monet album, ‘The Color Of Rain,’ promises to be a stunner. Be sure not to miss out by clicking here: https://amzn.to/4sySFHY

Eggs On Mars – Shooting Stars

We finish this week with some liquid sugar in the hands of Eggs On Mars, playing a song from their latest album ‘Good Morning (I Love You).’ They are described as a soft-pop band from Kansas City, Missouri but I would argue there is a flowery melodicism to their music that sails closer to the psych-pop waters, drinking deep from them with good intent to achieve winning results such as this. The album is a collection of love songs infused with melancholia and an advanced facility for head-melting major-minor changes, it is out now via Enigmatic Brunch Records. The band themselves have said “through our midwestern lens we try to summon the sound of the Monkees if they were chosen over the Velvet Underground to be Warhol’s Factory band. We like Harry Nilsson, Foxwarren, and Chris Cohen a lot!” You can get yourself a copy of the album from here: https://eggsonmars.bandcamp.com/album/good-morning-i-love-you

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 6th April 2026

Teddy Thompson – So This Is Heartache

It must be tough being the son of a music legend, trying to establish a career and identity of your own. Teddy first emerged over twenty-five years ago in the shadow of father Richard, and for a while looked like he might be forever living in the shadows of his relative. But over the years Teddy has wrestled this problem to the ground in the best possible way, by repeatedly writing very good songs in a specific kind of UK Americana vein that, by this point in 2026, have seen him built up a very credible and explorable catalogue of his own. This exemplary take on the classic country heartbreak song, albeit through the filter of someone who has heard Wilco and The Byrds, appears on his forthcoming ‘Never Be The Same’ album which can be pre-ordered here: https://amzn.to/4cqqaaC

Little Barrie – More Bad Miles Of Road

This is totally infectious, a track that is set to appear on Barrie’s forthcoming ‘Gravity Freeze’ album on Easy Eye Sound. It makes me think about that second Stone Roses album, the one they got harshly knocked for at the time because it leant more into electric blues than indie-dance rock but, given time and all the noise around it having dissipating, now just plays like some of the sexiest, bluesy grooving music you have heard in your life. This taps into the exact same vibe which should not come as a surprise because, for many years now, Barrie has been the go to guy for anyone wishing to uncork that impossible to define, plugged-in energy he possesses. He is like a Ronnie Wood for the 21st century with many an act known for having a good ear (from Primal Scream and Paul Weller to Liam Gallagher and The The) calling upon Mr. Cadogan to sprinkle some of his uniquely electric dandelion seeds over their work. The album can be pre-ordered here: https://amzn.to/3PU1qPd

Jalen Ngonda – Doctrine Of Love

This is the title track from an album that is set to be released in June on Daptone Records. One look at the image fronting this clip coupled with all the great retro soul associations you might have with the label might lead you to assume you know what is being delivered here. And whilst there is a lot of truth in that assumption, you cannot casually anticipate just how superbly this is executed. Everything from the tone and energy of the production, that hard-to-nail vintage/modern avenue it exists in, to the “taking it to the bridge” impassioned vocal and craftsmanship that has gone into the writing of this brand new song, gives us a much needed springtime lift that should not be ignored. It was written by Jalen Ngonda himself together with Vince Chiarito and Michael Buckley and the full album can be pre-ordered here: https://amzn.to/48cANLG

Aldous Harding – One Stop

Aldous Harding returns with ‘One Stop,’ the first glimpse of her upcoming fifth album, ‘Train On The Island.’ Due for release on 8 May 2026, the record marks her follow‑up to ‘Warm Chris’ and once again pairs her with longtime collaborator John Parish. ‘One Stop’ sets the tone with a sparse piano motif and a gently shifting, if a little haunted by its own memories, offering which gives us a characteristically enigmatic entry point into the new album. The album can be pre-ordered here: https://amzn.to/3Q2DZmP

Low Cut Connie – Livin’ In The USA

I am pleased to find that it is not just the old guard of Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young (as great as they are) reflecting on life in America today with a critical, questioning eye whilst maintaining a hope that maybe a brighter day will come. That Low Cut Connie do it with such a natural, bluesy bar-band swagger only adds to the authenticity. Furthermore, the ease of the songs structure lends it really strong anthem potential in much the same way that ‘Born In The USA’ evolved but the big difference here is the tragedy of the tale is not deflected by fist pumping. No, with ‘Livin’ In The USA,’ this increasingly vital band are inviting us to share a lament over a cold beer before slapping us on the back and saying “OK, let’s keep going.” The new album is available for pre-order here: https://linktr.ee/lowcutconnieofficial

Deadly Spirits – Can’t Take It

We finish this week with some scorching new garage rock on 7″ vinyl released on the Rogue Records label. There is nothing borrowed in the sounds these Swedish renegades are playing, for me it is the noise made by EDM and autotune fodder that instantly sounds dated, something played with this kind of intent just enters the realms of the timeless. That organ riffing alone, used so potently by the likes of ? And The Mysterions right through to the Inspiral Carpets, is enough to pin your ears to the wall; Deadly Spirits are paid in full members of the ‘Get Primitive’ form of rock/pop energy and they know exactly how to deliver. With a black vinyl record and Sixties Beat sensibilities all over the cover art, what is not to like? Do yourself a favour and get this one pre-ordered right here: https://roguerecords.bandcamp.com/album/cant-take-it

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 30th March 2026

Konyikeh – Mercenary

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

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