ANYX – Ladybirds Spine

‘Ladybirds Spine’ is a striking first glimpse of ANYX’s forthcoming debut ‘Starlink,’ a song that opens with overwhelming magnitude, wrapping the listener in guitars that surge in great, engulfing waves before the drums lock us into a lurching Velvets-like menace. Into that force steps a voice carrying a command that grabs us by the ears. ANYX (Berlin‑based artist Anna Lucia Nissen) sings from the perspective of feeling dwarfed by the world’s volume, its demands, its insistence on visibility, echoing her own admission that everything had begun to feel “too big, too loud, too much.” The image she chose, perched on a ladybird’s spine, seeing life from a tiny, overmatched vantage point, becomes the song’s emotional fulcrum. It is a powerful opening statement, setting the tone for a debut album that might be hard to ignore come the autumn time. You can pre-order the album here: https://anyx.bandcamp.com/album/starlink

Ty Segall – Black Paint

This is the first single from Ty Segall’s album ‘Chrome,’ out on LP/CD/CS from Drag City on August 28th. Happily, at least as far as I can tell from the information available thus far, this promises to be Ty’s most full on, loud electric full band offering for some time. That fuzz guitar assault and feral energy is certainly all over ‘Black Paint’ and it would appear that the rough edged live feel of the album was realised deliberately, with the band all rehearsing together a full month before actually recording. When they did eventually get it down in the studio, the sessions were done in just six days with the line up of Ben Boye, Evan Burrows, Mikal Cronin, Emmett Kelly who were the same band members for some of Segall’s most ferocious and memorable live shows in the past. Expect good stuff ahead, you can pre-order the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4p93hgu

Oral Habit – Thin Trippin’

This was the moment Oral Habit stopped me in my tracks, summoning the vintage grazing indie‑guitar shimmer with playing that leans into groove as much as it toys with electric‑guitar posturing. The uninhibited way they throw the song across the room, as if mistaking it for a pop tune would be entirely your problem. It carries strong echoes of the early nineties, when UK bands channelled the debris of twentieth‑century cultural life (sixties garage records in family lofts, late‑night cult film reruns, abandoned guitars and vintage organs) into something raw and reactionary. Oral Habit are not revivalists of the revivalists, but ‘Thin Trippin’ plugs straight into those appealing influences while adding their own grunge‑flecked, psych‑tilted, college‑rock abandon. It is the first sign of a band who wrap their whole essence around a hard‑kicking rock melange that emphatically announces they are their own, unique force. You can get a download of the album this way: https://amzn.to/4gqyB8p

Pearl And The Oysters – Mandarin Moon

This track is taken from the new Pearl And The Oysters album ‘Monkey Mind,’ out now on Stones Throw. The critical reception for the release has noted their expansiveness, how they have boldly incorporated many eclectic leaning styles such as sophisti‑pop, bossa, electronica, psych‑pop, alongside lounge‑leaning textures that have resulted in a bright, meticulously arranged whole. Fans and early listeners highlighted its “sharp yet cozy soundscape” and its dense, detail‑rich production. All of which caught my ear too, particularly this lush number that seems to embrace the spooky delirium of an earlier than expected moon arrival casting a spell on those who encounter it. You can get a download of the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4h4moq4

Hollow Hand – Here Are The Tulips

Here is some folk rock with a real satisfying tension and release, it feeds into the major/minor electric jangle that the genre wears in its purest form but it is executed with such panache, the sound feels like a long lost friend returning home. Forthcoming album ‘Wish Road South,’ a newly revitalised effort from Max Kinghorn‑Mills and his Brighton band, arrives on September 4th via Loose Music / Soundl. Led by this breezy first single, it was the moment Kinghorn‑Mills realised he had “found something” in its live, unforced spark. The record captures everyday stories with unfussy warmth, realised with a shift away from bedroom production toward a fully collaborative, live‑tracked trio. Born from bus rides, fresh creative zeal and a renewed sense of purpose, this record marks Hollow Hand’s most open, immediate and instinctive work yet. You can pre-order the album on vinyl via this link: https://amzn.to/44ngUPP

Sera Cahoone – Pulling Up Roots

Sera Cahoone returns this August with ‘I’ve Missed You All These Years,’ her first album in eight years and it is a bright, collaborative work created alongside the long climb back following profound loss. Ahead of its release, she offers a first glimpse with ‘Pulling Up Roots,’ a barroom‑swinging single whose spirit she describes as “getting to the other side and experiencing growth and momentum after a challenging time.” It’s a fitting entry point into a record that looks past the dark winter and toward the moment the light comes back in; it is also a collection of blues‑folk‑country songs fuelled by community, clarity and the hard won triumph of rediscovering yourself. You can get on the pre-order list by following this link: https://amzn.to/4f8h2Yw