The MOnday: 03.02.25
DOTHS are back, Katherine Priddy points to winter's end, and 15 must see live acts
Listen to this
As we move into a new month, here are three new releases from the end of January. Check my latest monthly playlist for lots more.
Death Of The High Street - Solid Ground
A huge, sweeping and powerful new song from the Derbyshire powerhouse that is DOTHS. It’s all that, but fleet-footed, too; this is sprightly, hope-raising alt rock for these disillusioned times
EEVAH - I Still Think Of You
EEVAH have really found their feet here, developing their alt-pop/rock sound with confidence. The song takes its time to build, maturing into a many-layered, rich and epic anthem. It seems to tear emotion from the very fabric of sound.
Katherine Priddy - Daybreaker
KP’s second song written with UK poet laureate Simon Armitage, and what a stunner it is. It’s seasonal and sublimely entrancing — Katherine’s voice and guitar makes a subtle entrance before the song unfolds into a soaring description of nature and hope.
Watch this
I looked back a couple of months for this one — it’s the video to accompany indie-folk quintet Bottlemoth's track 'Where Oceans Swallow Your Skies' (from their debut album 'Even Us Ghosts', which was one of my top 10 last year). A simple video, allowing the music to speak for itself while being enhanced with the kind of landscape which inspired it.
Read this
Over the past few weeks, music editors and podcast hosts have been voting to compile a shortlist of new acts for the first ever Class of 2025. Choosing from a longlist that was generated by a poll of 800 members of the Music Venues Alliance (founded by the Music Venue Trust), they were asked to nominate the live acts they believe every music fan should see in 2025. The result: The Class of 2025 Shortlist featuring 15 Must See Live Acts, including one of my Twisterella highlights Amelia Coburn, the essential English Teacher, and ever-rising Wunderhorse.
Big shout out to Sean Adams at Drowned In Sound for his incredible hard work pulling this together.
While I’ve got you, and in case you missed it, please have a read of the recent review I wrote of Dictator’s latest EP ;-)
Dictator: Middle of the Road [EP]
![Dictator: Middle of the Road [EP]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iF5t!,w_280,h_280,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad97ce5e-6ab4-4953-88e9-3fee734f69bf_958x958.jpeg)
I was right to include Dictator in my Eight artists to watch look-ahead piece at the end of last year. Never content to sit still, they’ve evolved their sound with every new release. There’s always been a beat-driven core to what the band does, but as they’ve matured we’ve seen their focus shifting. Some highlights of the Dictator back catalogue include…
Don’t miss this week
My interview with India Arkin
Wednesday 5th Feb: A striking, energetic single from Ruby Vectra: Too Little, Too Late
Friday 7th Feb: Arliston release an intensely reflective album, ‘Disappointment Machine’.