Flittie – Supposed

I truly would like to learn more about Flittie. Their EP Guardienne has me intrigued, every cut here is first-class but I want to know all the details about the production and how a Trans performing artist named Farren Rice from Alabama came to be based in Seattle. This really is an enchanting selection of beautifully produced songs. Excellent artwork and promo photos too. Dear Flittie/Farren let us know if you’d like a chat, I think you have much to say and share.

White Fence – Unread Books

For me, there comes a time when I prefer to skip over the hoary-old typical rock hearsay about dependency. Yes, I know an artist’s self-imposed fall from grace provides a bon mot of intrigue yet it can also pursued the listener to only appreciate the music as if addictions are the raison d’être. Take the case of LA-based Tim Presley who has been using the moniker White Fence as an alternative vehicle for his songwriting since the final days of his band Darker My Love. Seven years have passed since Presley’s last White Fence LP (that’s where the tale of dependency takes over). Orange is the title of his latest long-player. Unread Books is my favorite cut from a collection of first-rate songs. Indulge in Presley’s kind-of retro stylings and be amazed at his surprising cover of Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall’s So Beautiful.  

MyVeronica – In The Endless Lifetime

First of all, I love MyVeronica’s LP Hope There’s Music In Heaven, plus my producer asks that you play it very loud. MyVeronica began as the solo project of singer/guitarist Mia Lin. Now a four-piece band, Mia says, “MyVeronica is an outlet for exploring the deeply personal through the universal.” Over the course of 9 songs, MyVeronica oscillates between piercing guitar hooks and melancholic slowcore to tell a story of early-20s angst and a desperate search to find the good in the world. And a quick observation: I really cannot explain why but to me MyVeronica sounds as if they hail from anywhere but LA. A terrible misjudging of Los Angeles on my part no doubt.

Elanor Moss – The Way That It Feels

Lock me in a room with Elanor Moss’s debut LP  The Knife, The Needle, throw away the key and I’ll be quite happy. Indulging in a long-player from beginning to end is not so common these days, well, at least for me it isn’t. Yet here is that rare collection of songs so precious I have to hear every minute detail again (and again) especially Elanor’s emotive breath between the songs Again My Love and Sarah Waiting In The Car. She tells us the album was written over three years recalibrating her relationship with songwriting, therapy and her family history, the album returns to “the music that made me really feel something; the music I wanted to be writing.” Elanor Moss speaks clearly to me with her music, so much that I could easily be caught allowing a untamed salty teardrop to plop down my cheek. Stellar work!

Dying Serenade – Mind On The Run

Dying Serenade’s EP How Much I Miss Those Days is from Iranian Post Rock/Metal guitarist, Saeed Karimi who writes, “I often find myself longing for the carefree days of my childhood. This song is dedicated to my childhood memories. How much i miss those days…” Tempted as much as I am to write mountains of words in disgust of the present American administration’s sickening, immoral behavior my better-self tells me to focus intently on the obvious truth, there are humans in Iran – some make exceptional beautiful music. Beautiful poignant sleeve photo. Do not overlook!

Richard – Loving You To Death

This LP, Loving You To Death almost prompted to burden you with my musings as to what Richard is up to. Then I read his sleeve notes and reckoned the man explains all far better than I probably could: “Loving You To Death is very much about being with someone who is hurting you by hurting themself, knowing you should leave but that you can’t live without them. It’s mostly about one night, or one period of time? I don’t really know anymore, but maybe you can relate. Before writing this I was obsessed with stretching out my little moody riffs into long drawn out ambient pieces, throwing them through the morphagene and seeing what happens. But there is just way too much sound design around me, everything is so slick and impressive and boring and unmemorable. So I tried to keep everything bare, to accept the recordings as they are and to do it without a band.” Splendid sleeve painting by Hoda Akkad, Richard’s mother. Richard’s long-player is available via the always impressive Stroom.tv imprint out of Belgium.

Jo From School – Chicken

After listening to Chicken if you don’t immediately get a copy of Jo From School’s debut EP Grace, Flair and Distance then I’m sorry I’ll have to accept your ears are not working properly. Here we have six songs a twenty-something Londoner has crafted with an air of street-smart, sophistication perhaps a complexity that belies her youthfulness. Jo Gellar does not mess about, clearly she is sure of what she is doing. Yet, her confidence almost takes a back seat to how she applies her smart production skills. Jo tells us, “Grace, Flair & Distance was a game that my dad made up for my cousins and I in the summer holidays. We would do these things called home swaps. Because I live in north London and have done all my life, you get these crazy offers from awesome places, just because you live in London and they really want to go to London. None of us were athletic – one cousin is now an actor, and the other writes for The Guardian, all annoying creative kids with no like athletic ability! We  My family’s super annoying where they think they’re all really funny, so if one good bit gets going, that’s it forever.” I love that. Gorgeous sleeve art.

Jad & The – Deep Dark Grimey Dancefloor Moment

This selection of tracks span a 7 year period, taking in all shades of high energy, 4 to the floor dance music, lovingly curated by Bradley Zero, who has the following to say: “There’s Some songs you might know, some songs you might not. I’ve pulled together 20 midsummer selections that will not fail to get those hands in the air from the smallest of rooms to the biggest festival crowds. Every selection is tried and tested!” The LP is Mood Volume X: Peak Summer on Rhythm Section International, founded in 2014 by Bradley Zero out of Peckham, South London. Essential!

Man/Woman/Chainsaw – Something Else To Give

I dare you to not wanna sing along to Something Else To Give. Man/Woman/Chainsaw know exactly how to catch your attention, their debut LP, Cannoball comes at you in full force in the nicest possible way. Billy Ward and Vera Leppänen began making music together aged 14 while at school together. The pair played with a range of other bandmates before solidifying the lineup of Man/Woman/Chainsaw in 2023. Lot’s to enjoy here and decidedly difficult to slot into a daft genre. Perfect. Brilliant sleeve photo too.

Selkie – Lick The Sun

I first listened to inWaves from Selkie all the way through from beginning to end uninterrupted. Honestly, I do wish I could share the complete work with you, then you may understand why I consider this an extraordinary work. Selkie is Kristina Cox a Scottish musician producing ambient pop with atmospheric vocal-based sound design. On each listen I have more questions to ask. How did Kristina set about recording inWaves? What was the production process? Is there a story behind each song? Perhaps some of the answers could be found in the recording locations –  Glasgow, Berlin, Kyoto and Tokyo. Cool sleeve photo. Striking music.

Izzy Tucker – Siren Song

According to Izzy’s promo “Izzy is a singer, songwriter and producer whose music sounds a bit like if dream pop had a baby” Then over on Izzy’s Insta page, “Izzy is a 60’s soul singer trapped in the body of a fairy” As it happens Isabel Tucker seems to be a smart person who has made one cool single. I’m searching for and looking forward to more music from Ms. Tucker. Disturbing but engaging sleeve art. Intriguing.

Petri Hellgren – Cold, Cold, Cold Dub

From the compilation LP, Another 24 Interpretations Of Dub courtesy of Piennar, Finland. A bit of a curiosity this one, 24 wicked cuts of dub on an edition of 60 on recycled cassettes. Essential if you can find it.

The photo is by Norman B, early morning fog, Bar Harbor, Maine, August 2026. Courtesy of Norman B’s collection