STN Select: November 2025

Just think, the next time we post will be the end of year wingdings. Another one down, and so soon.




Armand Hammer feat. Quelle Chris - Glue Traps
The Baby Seals - Tamoo Trance
Bill Callahan - The Man I'm Supposed To Be
Breakup Haircut - Spite! Spite! Spite!
Charli xcx feat. John Cale - House
cootie catcher - Gingham Dress
deathcrash - Triumph
Dry Cleaning - Cruise Ship Designer
Girl Group - She Goes
Hazel English - Gimme
The Just Joans - Here Come The Rugby Boys
Mandy, Indiana - Magazine
Man/Woman/Chainsaw - Only Girl
Ninush - I Don't Mind
The Red Stains - Freezer Jesus
ROSALÍA - Divinize
Sailor Honeymoon - Armchair
Shelf Lives - 2 phoneS
Skiving - Conversations With David Berman (Was That Civilised?)
Spanish Horses - Spells
Tulpa - PSYOPs
TVAM - The Words
Twat Union - Tiny Shorts
Twin Shadow - Deep End
Would-Be-Goods - The Gallopers

STN Select: October 2025

Now we're up to date let's just whip through these, shall we. Not that you should, we've curated these for you - and again, two songs not on Spotify.




Anna von Hausswolff feat. Ethel Cain - Aging Young Women
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist feat. Silka & Cleo Reed - Calypso Gene
bar italia - omni shambles
Blue Zero - Confusion
Breakup Haircut - I'm Okay (I Lied)
Bugeye - This Ain't A Love Song
Chanel Beads - The Coward Forgets His Nightmare
CHERYM x Uninvited - Sofa Bed
combobox - The Party
Court Jester - Hair Shirt
Courtney Barnett - Stay In Your Lane
Cubzoa - In 2 Worlds
Grogg - Curry Night
Hannah Frances - Nested In Tangles
Hilary Woods - Taper
Jenny On Holiday - Dolphins
Joshua Idehen - It Always Was
Joyeria - Troubled Youth
Ladytron - I See Red
Lande Hekt - Favourite Pair Of Shoes
Melody's Echo Chamber - Eyes Closed
The Mink - Squeaky Clean
The Mountain Goats - Cold At Night
Nervous Twitch - Don't Get In Touch
Opus Kink - I'm A Pretty Showboy
The Orchestra (For Now) - Impatient
Prolapse - Swearing For Decoration
Railcard - Narcissus
RÓIS x hhH – Did ye ever get The Ride at The Wake House?
Samantha Savage Smith - My Friends
Shaking Hand - Mantras
Skiving - Ich Bin Ein Beginner
Snõõper - Star 6 9
Spiritual Cramp feat. Sharon Van Etten - You've Got My Number
Sudan Archives - NOIRE
Sugar - House Of Dead Memories
Tulpa - Transfixed Gaze
The Two Lips - if you said

STN Select: September 2025

Slightly more up to date than the last one, another month cleared. Our request for someone to help put this together on something other than accursed Spotify fell on deaf ears like every other request we've made in the last few years, so sorry. There's two that aren't on there at all this time!




Amelia & The Housewives - Summer's Over
Annabelle Chairlegs - Ice Cream On The Beach
Baxter Dury - Alpha Dog
Be Your Own Pet - What a B*tch
Big Thief - Words
Breakup Haircut - The Algorithm Is Trying To Kill Me
Cate Le Bon - Mothers of Riches
The Cords - When You Said Goodbye
Croíthe - I Heard, I Saw
Dry Cleaning - Hit My Head All Day
Geese - Cobra
Girl Group - Rage Song
Gorillaz feat. Sparks - The Happy Dictator
Gwenifer Raymond - Champion Ivy
james K - On God
jasmine.4.t - I Can't Believe I Did This Without You
Jens Lekman - A Tuxedo Sewn For Two
Joyeria - The Swimmer
Lael Neale - Some Bright Morning
Laptop - I Don't Know
Lightning In A Twilight Hour - There's More to Life Than Crooks
L.O.E - Need Your Help With This
Lo And Behold - Born To The Victors
mary in the junkyard - midori
MayKay - Busted
Melody's Echo Chamber & El Michels Affair - Daisy
Miki Berenyi Trio - Doldrum Days
Neko Case - Destination
The New Eves - Red Brick
Olan Monk feat. Maria Somerville - Down 3
Other Lives - What's It Gonna Take
Pelts - Swimming
Pem - m4 windy
The Plan - Cascade
Restless Taxis - Truth
The Schla La Las - Gotta Go
Search Results - Excruciating Heights
Sofie Royer - AUTO
Sparks - Porcupine
Sudan Archives - COME AND FIND YOU
The Sundries - Borderline
Trial Tapes - Coughing Fits
Tulpa - Let's Make A Tulpa!
Tune-Yards - Siren
Virna Lindt - The Like Song
Wednesday - Townies
Wife - Until Then I'll Be Flying

STN Select: August 2025

With the up to date cutting edge approach that's served us so well over the last twenty years, on the eve of Hallowe'en here's our August playlist. Still gathered together on Spotify, unfortunately, but that's the easiest playlistable streaming service we have to hand right now. We'd ask if anyone wanted to compile it into a different format but we've done that too many times before to think the result will be any different. See you for the September playlist around the return of Halley's Comet.




adults - patterns
bar italia - Fundraiser
Bathing Suits - I Can Be A Freak
The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie
Big Modern - Head In A Toaster
Big Thief - Los Angeles
Cardiacs - Downup
The Cindys - Eternal Pharmacy
CMAT - Lord, Let That Tesla Crash
The Cords - I'm Not Sad
Dancer - Baby Blue
Darren Hayman - It's Gotten Quiet Round Here
Emma Pollock - Future Tree
For Those I Love - Carving The Stone
Fortitude Valley - Totally
Hand Habits - More Today
Jens Lekman - Wedding In Leipzig
Josie - Cupid Strikes A Blow
Lava La Rue - easy come, easy go
Lucy Dacus - More Than Friends
Neko Case - Winchester Mansion of Sound
No Peeling - Pink Flamingos
Pedestrian Band - The Winston Blues
Project Overload - Late Night Dancing
Prolapse - The Fall of Cashline
Sarah Meth - Bromance Is Dead
Scott Lavene - Muscle Car
Snõõper - Guard Dog
Wednesday - Bitter Everyday
Yttling Jazz — Illegal Hit (Joshua Idehen & Saturday, Monday Remake)

STN Select: July 2025

Is it still worth doing these? Given we don't think anybody reads them.




Autocamper - Foxes
Blue Amber - Yr Man in the Music Scene
Boko Yout - 9-2-5
Cate Le Bon - Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)?
Charm Wrestle - Gas Bill
CMAT - Euro-Country
The Cords - Fabulist
Cubzoa - Choke
Dancer - Happy Halloween
Dovetail - raining here, too
Ebbb - Manners
Factory Floor - Tell Me
Fat Dog - Pray To That
For Those I Love - Mirror
Fortitude Valley - Oceans Apart
frown line - Days Without
Gwenno - Utopia
Hand Habits - Jasmine Blossoms
Hannah Frances - Falling From and Further
Home Counties - Humdrum
Hope Of The States - Footage/Steamtrain
Jens Lekman - Candy From A Stranger
Jessica Winter - Big Star
Joanne Robertson & Oliver Coates - Gown
Lutalo - Cracked Lip
Mal Devisa - Skyline Arms-Reach Out
Meursault - Your Favourite Billionaire
Neko Case - Wreck
Nilüfer Yanya - Kneel
Other Lives - Show Us Some Love
Panic Shack - Unhinged
People Mover - Habit
The Red Stains - Diana's seatbelt
Robin Kester - The Daylight
Rocket - Wide Awake
Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band - New Threats From the Soul
Small Shake - Still Too Soon
Snõõper - Worldwide
Still Corners - Summer Nights
Superchunk - Stuck In A Dream
ugly ozo - madonna
Water From Your Eyes - Playing Classics
Wednesday - Pick Up That Knife
Wet Leg - mangetout

STN Selects: June 2025

Well, mentioning how last month's playlist was fortunately a little quieter than usual was a red rag to the industry bull as this is the biggest selection of the month just ending's new releases. Loads of tracks here from newly announced or released albums (which reminds us, these are our thirty favourite albums of the first half of this year), details of which should all be laid out and linked in the YouTube descriptions. Reminder that we have a Ko-fi and that we provide weekly sustenance to Brand New Beats, 9pm Mondays on Noisebox Radio.



Adwaith - Aros Am Y Chwiban
A women's Euros Wales single!
Allo Darlin' - Cologne
bar italia - Cowbella
Baxter Dury - Return Of The Sharp Heads
The Beths - No Joy
Big Thief - Incomprehensible
Bobby Conn - Never Felt Better
Brògeal - Vicar Street Days
CMAT - The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station
Comet Gain - The Ballad Of The Lives We Led
Dancer - Just Say Yes
Dayflower - Lazy (live)
The studio version that leads the EP is fine itself, but this version was recorded at Leicesterval so straight in it goes
Ethel Cain - Nettles
Fortitude Valley - Video (Right There With You)
Playing Leicester Duffy's Bar for us on September 11th - for the love of god buy a ticket now
Gemma Cullingford & Tom Sharkett - Illuminate
Gruff Rhys - Chwyn Chwyldroadol!
GUTS. - Daphne
Gwenifer Raymond - Jack Parsons Blues
Gwenno - Y Gath
Hayden Pedigo - Long Pond Lily
Heavenly - Portland Town
james K - Play
Jeanines - You Can't Get It Back
Josie - My Boy And I
Lifeguard - A Tightwire
Little Simz ft. Michael Kiwanuka & Yussef Dayes - Lotus
Lord Huron - Bag of Bones
mark william lewis - Still Above
The New Eves - Cow Song
Nilüfer Yanya - Where To Look
Other Lives - Mystic
Panic Shack - Thelma & Louise
Patrick Wolf - Reculver
Project Overload - Wildfire
Prolapse - Cha Cha Cha 2000
Pulp - Background Noise
RIP Magic - Dox
Robin Kester - An Hour Per Day
Say She She - Cut & Rewind
Sex Week - Coach
Sudan Archives - DEAD
ugly ozo - Onto A Winner
Upchuck - Plastic
The Vorgs - Supernova
Water From Your Eyes - Life Signs
Wednesday - Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)
Young Fathers - Lowly
From the 28 Years Later soundtrack

STN Selects: May 2025

Time to step up for another month of rounding up what's been going on. As mentioned before, we have a Ko-fi should you be in a position to donate. As not mentioned before as we keep forgetting, we're contributing currently to Brand New Beats, the highly recommended weekly new music show on Noisebox Radio, 9pm every Monday with Colm O'Rourke. (Actually the whole station is highly recommended but that's the only bit we're directly involved with) And if you like our STN Presents... Leicester-based live music arm, developments on that front will be hitting the social media, chiefly our Instagram and Facebook, very soon.




Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles - Not Broken
Allo Darlin' - My Love Will Bring You Home
BADBADNOTGOOD ft. V.C.R - Found A Light (Beale Street)
billy woods ft. ELUCID & Cavalier - Lead Paint Test
Deradoorian - Any Other World
People aren't talking about Angel's new album Ready For Heaven half enough, we say
For Those I Love - Of The Sorrows
Fortitude Valley - Sunshine State
Gemma Cullingford - The Island
Gina Birch - Causing Trouble Again
Joe & The Shitboys - SUCKBOI
Junk Whale - Julia Sad
The whole See you around, I guess? EP is well worth a go
The Lemonheads - Deep End
mary in the junkyard - drains
Matt Berninger - No Love
mclusky - hate the polis
Last track on the like-they've-never-been-away return album the world is still here and so are we
MORN - Modern Man
Murder Club - Cave In
PING008, the eighth 7" release on Popty-Ping Recording Company and eighth great single
Pebbledash - Asha's Waltz
The Pill - POSH
Pulp - Got To Have Love
Robert Forster - Breakfast On The Train
Sparks - My Devotion
Stereolab - Vermona F Transistor
Swallowtail - To Trace
Tune-Yards - Swarm
Wet Leg - CPR
Winter - Just Like A Flower

STN Select: April 2025

Welcome once again - yeah, like we have regular readers, we've seen the numbers - to our monthly round-up of what we've grabbed on to over the month just passed, fully forty tracks this time around. As you didn't read in our last post or on our socials because nobody does, we've opened a Ko-Fi account in a ridiculous grasping attempt at getting something out of your trust, having just passed twenty years in operation as a blog without having the special things we started preparing to mark the occasion anything close to ready. That failed too. No point, is there really. Could be doing something useful rather than committing ourselves repeatedly to transmitting things that other people do much better to nobody.



Adrianne Lenker - happiness (live)
From the FORTY THREE track Live At Revolution Hall, some of which is recorded on hand-held cassette recorders and reel-to-reel, some of which changes fidelity and location halfway through, some of which is just hesitant banter, some of which is actual new songs because she cannot stop doing that.
Aesop Rock - Checkers
Allo Darlin' - Tricky Questions
They're back! First new music in nine years! And touring the UK in November!
Anna Hillburg - I Don't Know What To Do With My Mother's Sadness
Autocamper - Again
Manc classy janglers' debut album What Do You Do All Day? out 11th July on Safe Suburban Home/Slumberland
The Beths - Metal
billy woods ft. Steel Tipped Dove - BLK ZMBY
caroline ft. Caroline Polachek - Tell me I never knew that
child3 - Give It To Me Now
Cosmorat - Bad Boys Go To Heaven
The Divine Comedy - Achilles
There's a name you probably didn't expect to see among all these angular bands and Windmill types. Inspired by a WWI-era poem, Patrick Shaw-Stewart's Achilles in the Trench, it's from thirteenth album Rainy Sunday Afternoon, out NINETEENTH OF SEPTEMBER, IT'S JUST GONE APRIL, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING HERE
Equal Parts - There For A Reason
This month's new Australian band, featuring members of CLAMM and Floodlights of whom you might be aware
Fib - You Ruined Everything
Florist - Levitate
Jellywish earns the honour of being this failed blog's official Best Album Of April 2025. We're sure Emily and co are overjoyed.
Gay Skeleton Club - Summertime (Free Palestine)
Girl and Girl - Okay
Girl Group - Flink Pike
GLIMMERPIT - Nein Danke
OK, so we're throwing a lot of new names at you this month with no elucidation, but we want to pause at this one because a) the Mancunian 'queer kraut comedy post-punk' trio's disco-sleaze-but-not-indie-sleaze debut single doesn't seem to have had much attention from anyone, b) we saw one of their very few gigs outside that city and they were tremendous fun and c) it features the increasing frantic shouts of "someone keeps sticking their penis through the wall!"
Greet Death - Country Girl
Gwenno - Dancing On Volcanoes
Jeanines - On And On
New York indiepop outfit of much transatlantic love, now on Skep Wax for June's third album How Long Can It Last and touring the UK in July
Junk Whale - Bleeding Out
Keeley Forsyth & Matthew Bourne - It Seems
Man/Woman/Chainsaw - Adam & Steve
Mclusky - chekhov's guns
One week to go!
nathy sg - The Metaphorical One
You know, off Martha and Onsind and that. Touring at the end of May into 1st June with the aforefeatured Junk Whale
The New Eves - Highway Man
Nilüfer Yanya - Cold Heart
Orla Gartland - Now What?
Panic Shack - Girl Band Starter Pack
Big news for fellow shit munchers (officially two words, apparently), an album is coming! July 19th, self-titled which is disappointing, features Do Something which isn't
pencil - The Pencil
Not the band pencil that Adrianne Lenker used to be in but another of those unpinnable London bands
Pulp - Spike Island
Punchlove - Today You Can Learn the Secret
Search Results - Be Laurel
Sister Wives - YnCanu
SLAG - Heaven
Wait, Brighton band "making math rock sexy", this hit the playlists this month but it came out in February? What happened here?
Sorry - Jetplane
Stereolab - Melodie Is A Wound
These New Puritans - A Season In Hell
Twat Union - Little Pink Drill
And finally, the theatrical feminist punks delivered their EP Don't Look It In The Eye on Alcopop! That kind of "drill", yes.

China

It's twenty years today since Sweeping The Nation started.
We had a couple of very special plans hatched up to a year ago to mark the occasion.
Neither of them are anything like close to fruition.
So we've started a Ko-Fi instead. Please give generously.

STN Select: March 2025

Actually timely for once, the thirty-strong best of what we heard over the course of this month just ending.

April 29th will mark Sweeping The Nation's twentieth anniversary. We had special things planned to coincide with it. None of them are coming to fruition, or at least not in time for that date. As always, idealism has been ruined by reality and drive.




Adebisi Shank - Start A Band
This is the return of a band called Adebisi Shank. Their first new release in ten years, in fact, with the kind of drive that doesn't suggest they'd been away at all.

Backxwash - Black Lazarus
The most extraordinary album of the year so far, the Montreal-based rapper's fifth album Only Dust Remains absolutely compels you not to turn away with the intensity and complete lack of compromise or veil over the personal or political darkness encompassing.

Black Country, New Road - For The Cold Country
Might be understating things to say the new BC,NR have been divisive, and that woodwind heavy press photo has absolutely not helped (nor has the growing army of those inspired by the Isaac era) but put that baggage aside and hear how this develops from plangency to rococo to percussive soaring.

Bob Mould - Fur Mink Augurs
If you're going to recall the later Husker Du albums, as the Tubs' album does, the man who wrote and sang on them may as well too on Here We Go Crazy.

caroline - Total euphoria
Somehow only 4:30, the post-rock octet skilfully play all their different parts out of time and then gradually coalesce into catharsis.

Dana Gavanski - Bolted Heart
Stately piano-led rumination from EP Again Again.

David Lowery - I Wrote A Song Called Take The Skinheads Bowling
A song about writing Take The Skinheads Bowling, by the man who wrote Take The Skinheads Bowling.

Emma-Jean Thackray - Maybe Nowhere
A slippery groove with thick old bassline housing open thought about the grief that followed her partner's death, from second album Weirdo out on 25th April.

Girl Group - Yay! Saturday
We've had Girlband!, before that we had Girl Band who became Gilla Band, maybe this was the next natural step. Musically understated (self-produced too) for something that itemises the messiest of all nights out and ends in the only way possible. a monologue about piss on a toilet seat.

Kelcey Ayer - Different Planets
The former keyboard player and co-vocalist in Local Natives breaks for a solo career, built on knotty guitar picking and layers forming that recall some of Grizzly Bear's most becalmed moments (speaking of whom, what happened to those reformation dates you said were happening this year, Ed?)

Knitting Circle - Safe Routes
"Safe Routes encourages an end to all arms sales everywhere, and an end to all wars! No borders!" is pretty conclusive, a strident call for human solidarity from the jagged indiepop-post-punk band featuring members of Milky Wimpshake, Crumbs, Red Monkey and No Fit State. 100% of proceeds from Bandcamp sales (after fees) will be donated to Campaign Against Arms Trade

Lawn Chair - Fancy Car, Girlfriend And The Big House
Back into the European post-punk wilds, this time to Cologne where we pick up the kind of synthy pulse that fills floors under a pointed picture of that kind of confident man.

Little Simz - Free
Lotus is out 9th May (on Inflo's label, which is awkward given she's suing him), we find Simbi in contemplative mode that suits her as much as the explosive stuff.

Matt Berninger - Bonnet Of Pins
While Aaron is off producing Gracie Abrams and refusing to apologise for it, world-weary singer boy has made a second solo album, Get Sunk out May 30th, and captures an energy the band haven't always lived up to in very recent years. Even a bit of a New Order influence in there.

Mclusky - people person
I mean, what do you need to know at this stage? Apart from that 'the world is still here and so are we' is out on May 9th.

Mhaol - DM:AM
Is it Mhaol now or still M(h)aol? Sources differ. Anyway, the reconstituted band continue a path between slinky and sinister, deconstructing online harassment and the self-regarding defences thereof on the road to Something Soft, out May 16th.

Neev - He Built Himself
A highlight of the cinematically expansive blown out folk of second album How Things Tie In Knots.

Panic Shack - Gok Wan
ATTN: SHITMUNCHERS. What have they been doing for the two and a half years between releases? Making an album, of course, no details yet but this is its first single. And touring lots, including practically every festival. And drinking, in all likelihood.

pencil - Silent Corners
"Something beautiful turning into something terrifying" according to the band, previewing their Bohemian Clutter EP with something that develops upon flurries of ornate folk-pop.

Perfume Genius - Clean Heart
But you already know how great Glory is.

The Pill - Problem
Five singles of this kind of sticky compressed shoutpop, loads of festivals and HotWax and Panic Shack tour supports ahead, and yet no word of an EP or album. What gives?

Prohibition Prohibition - Columns
Back to the German underground, Munich this time, and anxiety induced build and release post-punk with a vocalist who sounds like Hamish Hawk.

Prolapse - On The Quarter Days
Had they not been teasing it for the last few years and seen them live twice along the way we'd have gone up into orbit at the news that the mid to late 90s' actual finest noise-pop band had reformed. Even with that this is the kind of return that shows they've barely lost a step, noise freakouts, Scottish Mick shouting and all.

Rival Consoles - Catherine
Ambient electronic producer with Jon Hopkins parallels previews ninth album Landscape From Memory by conjuring shards of melody and emotion amid pulsing atmospherics.

Sacred Paws - Winter
The hi-life guitars/busily propulsive drums combination turns up trumps again throughout third album Jump Into Life, this track adding some of Ray Aggs' other speciality, weeping and soaring fiddle.

Snapped Ankles - Smart World
Machine tooled arrythmia from new album Hard Times Furious Dancing

Sugababes - Jungle
Don't know if you know these, they've been around in various Thesean forms for a while now. A weirdly overlooked actual comeback single given how keen people were for new material from the original three before they settled onto the corporate occasion circuit instead, but absolutely bringing their classic era momentum into house-pop modernism.

Sunny Intervals - As Summer Draws In
Late night ruminative/melancholic acoustic indiepop from Andy Hall formerly of Pocketbooks (and Indietracks), from album Swept Away out on 11th April.

Superchunk feat. Rosali - Bruised Lung
Chunky, cripsy power-pop just as they did it back in the day.

Throwing Muses - Drugstore Drastic
Meanwhile the first new Muses album in five years Moonlight Concessions uses acoustic and cello to create the necessary shaded mood, none better than here.

STN Select: February 2025

Adwaith - Planed (from Solas)
Anna Hillburg - The Shape's Gonna Shift My Way
Bambara - Letters From Sing Sing
Bob Mould - Neanderthal
Cheekface - Art House (from Middle Spoon)
Dana Gavanski - Hang In For Us Both
Factory Floor - Between You
Florist - Gloom Designs
Fontaines D.C. - It's Amazing To Be Young
Hurray For The Riff Raff - Pyramid Scheme
King Hannah - Leftovers
mclusky - way of the exploding dickhead
Mirrored Daughters - Unreturning Sun (from Mirrored Daughters)
Neev - My Own Back
Panda Bear - Ends Meet (from Sinister Grift)
Patrick Wolf - Dies Irae
Perfume Genius ft. Aldous Harding - No Front Teeth
Project Overload - Silhouettes
Robin Kester ft. Rozi Plain - Departure
Sacred Paws - Turn Me Down
Scrounge - UTG
Sister Wives - Malady
SMILE - Hot Friend
Snapped Ankles - Pay The Rent
Stuart Pearce - Rope
Tugboat Captain - Dog Tale
Twat Union - Singer Of The Band
Yoshika Colwell - Last Night
Youth Lagoon - Gumshoe (Dracula From Arkansas) (from Rarely Do I Dream)

STN Select: January 2025

Anna B Savage - Mo Cheol Thú
Hymn to love and to new home Ireland from typically intimate in warmth and detail third album You and i are Earth (capitalisation artist's own), which in a move that makes absolute logical sense shares a producer with Lankum.


C Duncan - Think About It
In case you didn't think they made lavish and sweeping piano-led orchestral romance any more, It's Only A Love Song has all the flourishes, expansive tropes and, yes, ba-ba-ba backing vocals you'd want.


Florist - Have Heaven
The ghost of Big Thief lurks in both Emily Sprague's phrasing and the building outwards intimacy with care. Fifth album Jellywish out 4th April.


GOAT feat. MC Yallah - Nimerudi
Propulsive masked Swedish acid-funk psychedelicists team with rapidfire multilingual Kenya-Uganda rapper and highlight of last year's End Of The Road, bring some blaxploitation flute.


jasmine.4.t - Highfield
Airy sparseness around a dark subject, from debut album You Are The Morning, carefully arranged by all three of its producers, namely Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Never heard of them. Are they good?


Magana - Hold On
The last, Jeni now claims, of a series of seasonally affected EPs, Bad News reflecting the move from winter to spring and sounding appropriately like frost melting.


The Orchestra (For Now) - Skins
Hark, is that the sound of the Brixton Windmill? Don't they have the roof dog any more? The septet's second single hoards nominatively orchestral slow-burn dramatics before bursting out and racing to the skies. EP out on 28th March.


Panda Bear - Ferry Lady
One of those solo Animal Collective projects in that this track also fetures Geologist on "sounds" and Deakin on "synth trumpet". Still sounds as woozy and whacked-out as Panda's best work. From Sinister Grift, out 28th February.


Pigeon Dog - Wet Washing
North London trio stalk the perimeter of knotty alt-rock that might remind some of Throwing Muses or Cay. These are good things.


Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory - Trouble
Yeah, she's got a band now, while still threading the needle between electronics and her signature rolling, self-questioning songwriting. self-titled album out this Friday.


Snapped Ankles - Raoul
And now the other masked psych-art freaks, who follow a post-DFA pulsing, yowling disco-punk groove to the abyss with what seems to be references to Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote disasters. Hard Times Furious Dancing is released on 28th March.


Viagra Boys - Man Made Of Meat
A radio-ready chorus, a ranting on a street corner-ready verse. Look forward to them sending a crowd as nuts as they go in that Research Chemicals Glastonbury experience you've doubtless seen on YouTube. New album is called Viagr Aboys, because why not, and is out April 25th.

20 '25: a score of albums we're looking forward to in the coming twelve months

Those we know about

Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out (10th January)
Sophie Jamieson - I still want to share (17th January)
Anna B Savage - You & i are Earth (24th January)
Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (7th February)
Panda Bear - Sinister Grift (28th February)
The Tubs - Cotton Crown (7th March)
The Horrors - Night Life (21st March)

Those we don't

Beach House: playing a bunch of dates in May and June including Primavera, suspicious behaviour for people who haven't released anything for three years

The Beths: seem to tour Australasia perennially but it's two and a half years since Expert In A Dying Field, which they officially brought to a close in September, and they're promising to play new songs in a couple of dates in March

Big Thief: have, as is their way, been playing loads of new songs live lately (here's one), put out an appeal for a recording space in January/February, Uncut claim they're aiming for autumn

Julien Baker & TORRES: actually all three of Boygenius might be active in the next twelve months, with Lucy Dacus already touring new songs and whoever ever knows about Phoebe, but this shamelessly country collaboration has apparently been in the can even before The Record took Baker to new popularity heights and they've already released Sugar In The Tank

LCD Soundsystem: X-Ray Eyes wasn't great, no, but Primavera accidentally leaked the news with their announcement and it was known they were in the studio in late 2023

Little Simz: Drop 7 early on in the year just as Drop 6 preceded Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by a bit over a year, new track Hello Hi casually dropped on 30th December, a casual "See you in 25" on the Instagram announcement

Mclusky: Falco has been talking about a new album for ages, they signed a US deal in July and he posted updates and photos from the studio to social media in autumn, yet the none too disguised promise when dates were announced for May still seemed to surprise people

Panic Shack: this year's obligatory debut album inclusion, our old Cardiff girl gang punk favourites, for all their touring and festival slots since, haven't actually released anything for gone two years but they appear to have been in the studio over the latter period of 2024 and have a big UK tour announced covering May

Pulp: played at least five new songs live in 2024, announced they'd signed to Rough Trade in December, and that natural source Stella Creasy MP says she tipped off by Jarvis they were in the studio in August

Self Esteem: Big Man was a misstep as far as we were concerned but Rebecca says her third album will be out in spring, describing it on Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw's podcast as musically "not what you think... I made quite a complicated listen. It’s horribly honest."

Tunde Adebimpe: the superb Magnetic was accompanied with news that despite TV On The Radio's reunion carrying on well into the year (they're supporting Khrungabin for some reason at Gunnersbury Park in August, notably on Green Man weekend) he's signed to Sub Pop with an LP to follow

Wet Leg: not only announced for a lot of summer festivals but Joe from Fat Dog so casually dropped into an interview with DIY that nobody seems to have noticed that they followed his band into James Ford's studio

The xx: Romy confirmed to NME almost exactly a year ago that they were back in the studio: "I think Oliver and Jamie and I have all tried new things and learned a lot from different projects and I think that’s quite healthy to be like, ‘What have you learned? What should we do now?’ And I think it’s quite wide open and it’s exciting to be starting again in a way. But we’ve started making some music and I’m really excited about it"


AND ALSO? Adwaith, Alan Sparhawk (the songs he's been playing live, not the odd experimental beats of White Roses, My God), Backxwash, Bambara, C Duncan, Courtney Barnett, Deradoorian, Doves, Double Diamond Club (Helen Love and John Mouse), Dry Cleaning, Emma-Jean Thackray, Ex-Vöid, Hamilton Leithauser, Heartworms, Horsegirl, John Glacier, Julia Jacklin, Keg, Laundromat Chicks, Lorde, Lucy Dacus, Massive Attack, Melin Melyn, My Bloody Valentine (yeah, yeah), Sky Ferreira (ditto), Snail Mail, Sparks, Spoon, These New Puritans, Viagra Boys, Wednesday (though Karly has suggested despite already being recorded this is more likely to be 2026 due to MJ's touring commitments), Young Knives, Youth Lagoon