Just in time: The MOnday 28.04.25

Plentiful new music here, including Nadedja, renforshort, Lorde, The Lumineers and Self Esteem

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Another Sky - Running

It’s great to hear new music from this band, following up on their superb 2024 album ‘Beach Day’ (which easily made it into my top 10). What’s not so good is the news that the band will soon be splitting up… For now, let’s enjoy and treasure the music they’re still creating. The latest is this masterfully atmospheric, pulsing, slow burner.

Grace Calver - So Last Season

Grace C never fails to strike the balance between sugar-coated pop and cutting, witty observation. Here, noughties grunge revival guitars meet mellow electro-coated beats. The result is fun yet endearingly wistful.

Lorde - What Was That

Oh my, Lorde… as a forerunner to her album, this new one is packed with promise. It’s evocative in its silences as much as in its densely-layered, energetic moments. With great lyrical touches, a typically meandering melody. and curated, often angular, sounds, it’s got everything you could hope for from Lorde.

Nadedja - Twilight

Originally from Brazil, Nadedja has found a home in Newcastle (UK) and is planning a series of releases this year. In ‘Twilight’, she combines stunning vocal tones and warm soundscapes in what adds up to a fabulously lush alt-pop song, chilled but with a sense of forward and upward movement; a relentless striving.

renforshort - Feeling Good

I’m 100% here for all of this: the layers, the carefully thought-out sound palette and the energy. It’s beautifully honest and somehow carefree while reflecting on inner turmoil and an emotional battle. renforshort is absolutely back. (There’s an EP coming on 6th June…)

Soot Sprite - Vicious Cycles

Another band who are really ramping it up recently, perfecting their brand of resonant, rich, grungy shoegaze. Soot Sprite are preparing to head out on tour and in the meantime are casually smashing out powerful, clamorous tunes like this one.

The Lumineers - Sugar Mountain

I adore this track — it’s incredibly well written (a Neil Young original) and performed and arranged with precision and imagination, as The Lumineers’ songs tend to be. It’s minimal for the most part with well-placed piano chords intertwining with firm acoustic guitar, and overspread with precise emotional lyrics. A simple poetry.

Watch this

The video accompanying Self Esteem’s recent big track, ‘The Deep Blue Okay’, really takes the song to another level. What is itself an emotionally charged, powerful tune, relying on a superb vocal performance from Rebecca Lucy Taylor, is turbo-charged, flipped on its head, turned inside out… From a visually arresting opening image, the single take video progresses to break down the artistic barrier and reveal an actual and metaphorical behind-the-scenes view. Really clever, and powerfully simple.

Read this

I’ve published the second part of what I’m reassuring myself will be a triumphantly regular series, acronym AISHLTBN. The goal is to fill in some gaps in my listening history with some great but fresh (to me) music. This time, I dissected Pixies’ debut long-player ‘Surfer Rosa’… Have a read and let me know what you think…

Don’t miss this week

As always, check the Release Tracker, but be sure not to miss this Friday 2nd:

• Lizzie Esau: BUGS

• Maya Lakhani: Fall For Me

• Niloo: Nessa:

Don’t forget my: Release tracker | Monthly playlists | Subscriber chat