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Peachstone – Off/On

Following up from their debut EP in 2020, Peachstone are again with a minor rebrand and a much bigger, fuller sound. Each bit as charming and witty as their earlier releases, Off/On is catchy as hell and begs on the spot replay. Stuffed filled with melodic hooks and contours like “sugar crash caffeine plateau, peel me off the couch”, Peachstone have a rhythmic lyrical sensibility that’s each pleasant and memorable. I’ll have the phrases ‘cherry pink and seafoam inexperienced’ circling my mind for days.

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Dopamine – Fly

Taken from their debut album Deficiency, Scottish alt-rockers Dopamine serve up a hovering slice of early naughties tinged angst that’s positive to alleviate any dopamine deficiencies of your individual.

It Man – White Warmth

Witty, satirical alt-pop detailing the ‘fictional psyche of a younger, middle-class couple fantasising about explosives, informal playing and being Ray Liotta”. White Warmth positions itself someplace between the half-cut haziness of The Libertines and the arch lyrical skewering of Parklife period Blur.

Free Love – Dans Le Noir

A stunning, funky slice of 70s, hi-NRG impressed electronica made all of the extra enjoyable for the occasional snatches of Suzi Cook dinner’s Scottish accent peeking via the manufacturing. Sister monitor Open The Door can also be properly price a pay attention, giving a slinkier, extra lyrically dense tackle their sound.

 

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San Quentin – Serotonin

I’ve already featured a band referred to as Dopamine this month, so why not a single named Serotonin too? Sparked by songwriter Liam overhearing somebody over the past gasp of a pageant asking “Has anybody acquired a spare little bit of serotonin I can borrow?”, this can be a punchy, anthemic, indie-banger that has each proper to be enormous. Precisely the form of monitor to provide the end-of-the-fest kick up the arse you want.

 

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Single of the Month

Gintsugi – Mon Coeur

I first lined Gintsugi again in 2021 for her debut EP and have been following her since. This monitor, nonetheless, has blown my socks off. An unimaginable, surreal expertise that pitch-shifts, slips and slides via your psyche like a gothic, woozy hallucination. Described as ‘a medieval sci-fi story, through which two male characters can’t love one another publicly and one in every of them decides to remodel himself into the opposite, with the intention to stay near him’ Mon Coeur is unusual, sensual and entrancing. And whether it is any indication of what’s to return in its mother or father album, launched later this 12 months, then I can’t look ahead to that both.

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Video of the Month

Priestess – Holy Flesh

There may be various flesh, holy or in any other case, on this one so take that on advisement. However as salacious as that may sound this video brings extra to the desk than a glimpse of one thing naughty. Haunting, evocative and uncooked, it has extra in frequent with the visceral qualities of efficiency artwork or up to date dance than shows of the physique extra generally present in music movies. At instances tender, with flashes of darkish, sexual anger, the video suits the monitor completely – a lush and esoteric journey via ideas of rage and sanctity.

If you need to submit your music to be included in a future version of The New Smu please electronic mail me at susan@thesmureviews.co.uk and embody a hyperlink to your monitor. I don’t care you probably have 25k followers or solely your canine has heard it, so long as it’s fascinating, lovely, bizarre or fantastic.

A playlist of songs featured right here, and in earlier months, could be discovered on Spotify and YouTube.

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All phrases by Susan Sloan. Extra of her work for Louder Than Warfare is obtainable on her archive. Discover her on Instagram as @thesmureviews and think about Susan’s web site right here.