Jorja Smith – Little Things

This is a teaser track from Jorja Smith’s new album ‘Falling Or Flying’ which is set to be released in September. It is obvious she remains one of the most important voices in the current R&B, Jazz & Hip-Hop crossover zone primarily thanks to her natural melodic instincts as a pure, soulful vocalist and also because her head seems to be pleasingly un-turned by the fame landed on her doorstep these past five years; rather appropriately that doorstep is nowadays back in Walsall rather than the sleepless streets of London. Granting herself that headspace has paid off musically as Jorja Smith keeps it real in the truest sense; watch out for UK album launch shows in September and October…

Locate S,1 – Go Back To Disnee

This has such a laid back bossa kind of feeling to it, just one of many pop styles that are thrown into the tasty slow cooker in which Christina Schneider simmers her unique take on deceptively light sounding art-pop. This is the second outing for her Locate S,1 guise and new album ‘Wicked Jaw’ offers the kind of sonic forward motions on which cities are built, an irresistible soundscape of an album. So it is with ‘Go Back To Disnee’, which floats past easily as its impression lingers on…

Teenage Fanclub – Tired Of Being Alone

Now I bet they actually could do a belting cover version of the Al Green classic but this is not it. Some bands do not need reinvention because they have crafted their own niche to such a degree that all we need is for them to produce their goods as they harvest their own field. The line up may not be quite the same but doesn’t Euros Childs look and feel like he always had a place in waiting here? Such a good fit as is this new Teenage Fanclub music, from the forthcoming ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ album, out 22nd September 2023 on PeMa and Merge…

The Hives – Countdown To Shutdown

While I am toasting satisfying fresh and familiar produce from an older beloved act, here are some more near-veterans who continue to thrive doing the thing they do best. The Hives were always an exciting combination of carefully curated theatrical thrills alongside out-and-out garage rock energy and they plug straight back into that mainline on this new song and video. The latest album ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’ is out on August 11th…

Lanterns On The Lake – Thumb Of War

This is a superb live session version filmed in The Old Church, Northumberland from a band whose music exudes a kind of warm aching universal heartbeat so emblematic of their native North East. This tune is taken from their 2023 fifth studio album ‘Versions Of Us’ released on Bella Union…

The Circling Sun – Kohan

There in an unmistakable air of the Pharoah Saunders spiritual Jazz vibe to this graceful wave of essential new music. I say new but in reality this collective of musical space cadets have been boiling up a reputation as a live act, paying homage to the sounds of Afro-American Jazz, for over two decades now and so this debut album is a labour of love in a very real sense. That they have finally landed this motherlode of originals though is a cause for celebration when the sounds are as good as this; ‘Spirits’ was released in May on Soundway Records…