“That river in the winter, it can fuck me up…” is the opening salvo from Margo Cilker’s startlingly good country album. She’s a singer songwriter who has been on the road for the past seven years, taking her from her native Oregon to the Basque country in…

Jackie Leven remains something of a cult figure. The Scottish singer/songwriter began his career in the late 1960s on the folk circuit and found later success with his new wave band Doll By Doll. He would later release a whole clutch of albums as a solo a…

The husband and wife duo Adam and Paula Pickering are true independents and over the last ten years they have managed to build up a sizeable following, releasing six albums on their own label. The multi-instrumentalists are not confined by any traditional…

Once upon a time Alicia Walter was lead singer with Chicago-based art-rock outfit Oshwa, but for her debut solo release she’s embraced the joy of poppy hooks (the lead single from the album, ‘Standing at Your Doorstep’, is pure Jackson 5 style sunshine). …

Admittedly, I’ve never been a fan of the sad boy genre that seems to get more and more popular lately, but Memphis’ Blvck Hippie may be the one to turn me. This is one of my favourite indie records that I’ve heard this year; I just can’t get enough of the…

Danielle Lewis is one of the true leading lights of the alternative Welsh folk scene and her eagerly awaited debut album is an utter delight from beginning to end. She has one of those voices that really holds you rapt, and she wields it to fine effect ov…

Swedish singer/songwriter LÉON has made quite the mark on the music industry, garnering praise from the likes of Vogue and Glamour, appearing on James Corden’s The Late Late Show and gaining a slot at Coachella. Her latest single, ‘Soaked’, reminds us jus…

London-born songstress GIRLI’s latest EP, ‘Damsel in Distress’, has got to be one of my favourite pop records I’ve heard this year. Milly Toomey’s unique style, powerhouse vocals and addictive beats all play a part in this, but it's her lyrics that steal …

Crash landing just in time for halloween, MXYM is back with their latest spooky season delight “Starfire”. The new single Starfire is a Doo-Wap infused ethereal love song to the alien of your dreams. Taking their art rock sensibility into new territories …

Slowly is the first single from Nel Unlit’s second album, Ephemera or Tosh and the Girl. Like its predecessor, it is a concept album, but this time, the band have swapped epic fantasy for kitchen sink drama. I’m Slowly an estranged mother in recovery narr…

Ahead of their forthcoming LP, ‘Perfect Gray’, New Jersey slowcore duo, Joyer, have shared their final release from the album. Shane Sullivan, one half of the band, explained “’Worst Thing' deals with personal anxiety and the way I tend to build certain s…

Newcastle Musician, Sam Thomas, has pretty much done it all - from playing in metal, punk and indie bands, to solo acoustic guitar driven music. However, he has now found his niche in the hip-hop world, and this new track ‘No More’, due for release on the…

Newcastle rocker, Du Blonde, blessed our ears with the release of ‘Radio Jesus’ on the 5th of August. Described as being “about finding comfort in radio and TV when you’re lonely”, the song is something we can all relate to after a long period of finding …

Speaking about their new track, York alt-pop band King No One, which consists of vocalist Zac Lount, drummer James Basile and guitarist Joe Martin, said “Apologies' is about the shackles that strong feelings can give you. You are bound to love and you are…

Eagle Johnson’s route into music hasn’t been easy. A “temporary break with reality” in 2010 found him behind bars for a breaking-and-entering charge involving a Florida church and then in a state-run mental health facility. However, Johnson was allowed to…

‘Duszt’ is a film and album project with spectacular visuals and music combined. It’s inspired by concepts of Daoism, Zen Buddhism and classic Japanese directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Kitano Takeshi. At its heart is an eagerness to keep alive the reb…

Northern Irish trio, CHERYM, describe their latest single ‘We’re Just Friends’ as “a cheesy tune about being in a very wholesome relationship with your soul mate”. They manage to stand out from all the other cheesy tunes about soulmates, however, with th…