New Song Of The Week

Every Monday: one new artist with a song that deserves more attention! Follow us: Check out our playlist on Spotify:

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Five songs you shouldn’t miss this summer

As we took our first summer break in five years we still maintained our weekly ritual of picking a new song for our playlist. These were the tracks that made our summer so far, so we summed them up and hope you’ll add them as well to your summer playlist:

Swimming Tapes - Queen’s Parade

Let’s start with our ultimate summer track. Jingle-jangle guitar chords, vocals which echo back into the sixties, yep these Londoners know how to make some good retro-revival pop. Neither Allah-Las nor Real Estate are ever very far away.

Death From Above  - Freeze Me

The duo used to be called Death From Above 1979, but while the year is now gone, the catchy riffs certainly aren’t. Freeze Me is the first taste from their third album called Outrage! Is Now (out sept 9), and the video which includes bragging bodybuilders makes it all worthwhile.

April Towers - Takes One to Know One

Hats off to this Nottingham duo, which just fully crowdfunded the money to make their debut album, which will also be named Takes One to Know One. Might have heard their name before? Could be the case if you’re a dedicated FIFA player, as the band was featured in FIFA16.

Gus Dingwall - Downtown

With the small scandal about “fake” Spotify artists in mind we thought for a second that Gus is a moniker of Chet Faker aka Nick Murphy, but in fact he is a 19-year old Australian kid digging the same vibes. After doing vocals for French producer Møme you’d think he’d be picked up easily, but somehow his first single Downtown hasn’t been discovered yet by the mainstream. Their loss.

TRASH - Migraines

Four-piece TRASH from Chesterfield ain’t no garbage. If MTV would still broadcast video clips, Migraines would be the song we’d spend all of our call credit on. It’s probably the best lyric video you’ll see this year, one of the catchiest hooks on earth, and their band bio explains the rest: 

The one thing we wish people would notice about us is that we're really sad but also really happy in a really complex way which is really hard to understand unless you really listen to our music & think about the lyrics really hard. Like really, really hard.

Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Tamino - Cigar

Maybe it’s his Egyptian roots which make him sound so mesmerizing, as his father is from Egypt. Or it might be that elusive Belgian sound which makes fans of Balthazar and Oscar and the Wolf turn their heads in a split-second (as his mother from Belgium). Fact is that Tamino, whose full name is Tamino Moharam Fouad, sucks you right in with his mysterious storytelling and amazing vocal range. So far he has released only a self-titled EP, but the quality has been proven to be so good, it’s really Belgium’s Best Kept Secret. Last weekend we saw him kick-off his festival season in Genk, which was more or less a warming up of what’s yet to come, with appearances at some of Belgium’s biggest stages, including Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop. Lead single Cigar has already received a lot of support of national station Studio Brussel, and we agree that with Tamino they certainly hit the nail on its head. His brand new video captures the creepy vibe excellent and shows what it’s like to have a good night out with Achmed the Dead Terrorist’s nephew. The international potential is there and ready to be released, starting with his first bookings in the Netherlands, where you can see him for free next month at the wonderful Vondelpark (July 15) and the Valkhof festival (July 16). Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Portugal. The Man - Rich Friends

Freaking hell, Portugal. The Man are back and ready to rumble! The band are probably the biggest music export product from Alaska, together with nineties pop-sensation Jewel of course. Album numero 8 called Woodstock is just out and fits nicely with the rest of their back catalogue.

We love creative concepts in albums or music videos and the video of Rich Friends definitely got us hooked. The basic idea behind the clip must have popped up when surfing around stock photo websites all day and imagining what your browser would look like if all the banner advertisements were so well targeted that they would interact with each other, and maybe even predict how you’re going to live your life. For the best experience we’d advise you to watch the video here. 

Wanna see them live? In September the indierockers are travelling through Europe, including festival performances at Indiestadt (Amsterdam), Reeperbahn festival (Hamburg) and Way Back When (Dortmund). Oh and one final tip for the guys: have you tried to install an Ad blocker already? Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] CLUBZ - Áfrika

You thought Mexican music was only mariachi bands singing about tequila? Think again. CLUBZ is actually the first Mexican act we’ve featured over here, but let’s hope not the last. So who’s in this club? Its primary members are Orlando Fernández and Coco Santos from Monterrey, North-East Mexico. If you were one of the lucky few to be at Primavera Sound in Barcelona this year you were also able to catch them live, where they played their tropical electro-pop in the middle of the night. Your FOMO will increase when you hear this duo has been around since 2014, but don’t worry, you only missed one album and some singles so far. As we’re still on a basic level of Spanish, we think the lyrics of brand new single Áfrika are most likely about: 1) African internet scammers, trying to seduce rich yet lonely Western people; or 2) Running away from everything with your lover to Africa. We need to pick up our Duolingo Spanish course and try to find out the true meaning of this song, because whatever it means, we’ll be singing along these lyrics this summer. Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Airways - Reckless Tongue

Airways is a four men army formed in Peterborough, a city roughly 120 kilometers North from London. They don’t have the most Google-friendly band name, but we’ve seen much worse (!!!, anyone?). Reckless Tongue is the band’s third single and sounds like Royal Blood & Blood Red Shoes’ love child, raised by Luke Pritchard from The Kooks. Listen to the full five tracks of debut Starting to Spin EP and you’ll definitely realize there’s more than just their rocky side. Take White Noise Boys for example: there’s smart melodies, catchy guitar hooks and a very festival friendly chorus. Everything you’d want from a good indie rock song.These noisey boys have already been to SXSW this year (jealous!) and toured with Nothing But Thieves in last month. Currently they haven’t announced any destinations outside the UK yet, but Airways is definitely a band to watch, as they are ready for take off any minute now. Last call to jump on the bandwagon!Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Wallows - Sun Tan

These Los Angeles indie rockers are quite the talented bunch. Named after a skating ditch in Honolulu (also featured in Tony Hawk Underground), the trio provides just the right amount of slacking to get you through the summer heat.

You could easily imagine them relaxing under some Californian palms on Venice Beach and cruising down Santa Monica Boulevard afterwards to get to their sold-out gig at the Roxy Theatre. Which is pretty much what we think happened last week. Next week’s gig at legendary venue The Troubadour also sold-out within a day, so there’s certainly some buzz.

When seeing them live, expect to see several excited teenage girls in the front, as singer/guitarist Dylan Minnette is currently starring in Netflix’s latest controversial binge-worthy series, 13 Reasons Why. Other reasons why you should go and see them live if you can: - to get your monthly fix of tambourine; - debut single Pleaser is already a fan-favorite, Strokes from the West Coast, anyone? - to be one of the first to hear their new, unreleased material; - to find out what happened to former fourth band member Zack... - plus, we’ve heard they have neon palm trees and flamingo’s on stage. Still need more reasons? Just listen to that trumpet during the bridge on Sun Tan!

Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Jordan Mackampa - Battlecry

Congo-born singer-songwriter Jordan Mackampa just released his second EP called Tales From The Broken. And somehow its most underrated track, is our favorite track. Battlecry has only 16.000 streams on Spotify so far and it’s so undervalued that we have to share a third party video on YouTube with you.

The lyrics encourage even the biggest couch potato to get up and join his movement. To paraphrase Mackampa: it’s about standing up for what your beliefs, don’t let yourself be silenced and coming together as a unity. A binding message which is more important than ever, considering the Trump-era we live in right now. If any trade union is still looking for an anthem for their next tv ad, then this should their your first choice. We also see great opportunities for placements under war-related movie or video game trailers. Production has been taken care of by Matt Ingram, who’s been at the start of careers from Florence + the Machine, Laura Marling, and Lianne La Havas, so all the big indie names that matter. We’re pretty convinced that Jordan can be added to this list in the near future. You could’ve seen him in a church last weekend as one of the highlights at The Great Escape, but in case you missed that... (you weren’t the only one, there was a line in front of the venue)... he’s touring the UK the next two weeks, playing some UK summer festivals like Barn On The Farm, and doing a Dutch gig at the 7 Layers festival this fall. Can you hear the people coming? Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Day Wave - Untitled

Kid Wave, Dark Waves, Pale Waves, The Wave Pictures, Wave Racer, there are plenty of indie bands trying to make some waves at the moment. And don’t even get us started on the usage of Day/Days in your band name.. So is there this some room in this day and age for another wavey band? Oh yes, according to Jackson Phillips, the brain behind Day Wave. His debut The Dreams We Had is out since May 5 and is the most surprising newcomer on our long list for album of the year so far. After two interesting EPs, leading him to play Lollapalooza, The Great Escape and The Governors Ball in the mean time, the world seems to be ready for an eagerly awaited full-length.  Eleven tracks full of dreamy indie-pop which, depending on your mood and company, can be played in the background or hummed along to. Basically if The Drums’ Let’s Go Surfing is your jam, then this album will definitely get you going. It’s the perfect album for driving, in every kind of setting. Speeding away into the sunset, in the middle of the night on an empty highway, but an early morning sunrise would also make a splendid backdrop. Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Tom Walker - Blessings

Last weekend he converted crowds in Utrecht and Nijmegen, tonight he’s playing at Bitterzoet in Amsterdam and tomorrow it’s Rotown in Rotterdam on his schedule. You could say Tom Walker is trying to conquer the Netherlands, considering the fact it’s already his second Dutch tour this year. The British singer-songwriter will barely be home in Manchester this month, with a 7-date UK leg starting directly after he leaves the lowlands. But that’s not all. Last year he made his debut at Barn On The Farm festival, and he is one of the few who’ll be returning for a second time, and there are some very good reasons why. Blessings is the lead single of his new EP with the same title, coming out next week. And we’re pretty sure that it will be a streaming sensation like the rest of his catalogue, because look at the figures: his five most popular tracks have reached a combined total of 22.668.905(!) Spotify streams in the last 12 months.To put that number into perspective, it’s almost as much as the whole population of Australia! Most of those streams happened because he was put in the right playlists by the right people. And that ladies and gentlemen, is why you should keep Spotify as your friend in this day and age. ;-)Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Hearty Har - Can’t Keep Waiting

Oh how we love the retro sound of Hearty Har’s psychy garage rock. The LA outfit has been working on their reputation since 2012, but haven’t broken out since. Their latest gem has been mastered by top notch producer Brian Lucey, whose track record involved in the latest albums of The Shins, Arctic Monkeys and The Black Keys. Have we got your attention yet? Great. Because the song itself is more addictive than a hippie on LSD. On top of that we finally have some live footage to check out their presumably strong live act, as the Jam in The Van-studio rolled into their city last month. As the space was limited, the sax was replaced by pressed down fuzz pedals and synths, but as with all great songs, the song structure remains intact. Our Belgian friends of Dansende Beren already described the track as the perfect soundtrack for a dive bar with some rodeo riding cowboys in it. Can we add ‘on acid’ to that description? So, European psych festivals unite and get these guys to Europe asap!

Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Ginger Snaps - Number Crunching

Ginger Snaps revives the best bits of 1996 with Fun Lovin’ Criminals & the inevitable comparison to Beck, around the time he had his devils haircut. Consisting of Jay Brook & Lee Irons the duo hails from Northampton, or as the band describes their hometown, the ex industrial jewel of the East Midlands. Although it’s no reinvention of the wheel, Number Crunching is refreshing enough you want to give it a second spin directly after hearing it for the first time. As usual, the English press is eager to adopt new national treasures, so there’s been appraisal for the track from key media outlets like DIY, Clash, Amazing Radio, Radio X, and even a premiere on BBC Radio 1. Sounds promising right, so what’s further going on? At the moment the band is going crazy in the studio writing tracks for their debut album in a former mental institute, plus the band will perform at Live At Leeds later this month (we really need to go there next year, man look at that line-up!). But keep an eye out for them at your local English pub, they might just pop up around happy hour for a surprise gig in your neighbourhood! Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Pale Waves - There’s A Honey

Pale Waves has been recommended to us by our Mancunian friends for a while, but wow we really felt to act after hearing their latest single There’s A Honey. The track has been produced by The 1975 members Matt Healy & George Daniel, and on top of that the band’s also signed to Dirty Hit Records, Matt’s label. Basically Pale Waves are the female version of an early days The 1975 (for the record, the male/female split is fifty-fifty). The corresponding video was shot by Silent Tapes, experienced filmmakers who have worked with Cold War Kids & Ten Fé before. The dominant presence of the silk sheets with the purple lighting capture the mood quite well and remind us of the live set-up of the band’s supervisors. Fun fact: guitarist Hugo has been working at a local shoe shop as his day job, but let’s hope he can say goodbye to those lonely soles for good in the near future! They’re making good progress as the band will be supporting The 1975 on their lengthy North American tour (31 dates!), starting today. Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Alex The Astronaut - Rockstar City

To fact-check it straight away, Alex is not a real astronaut. She is however from the other side of the world: Sydney, Australia’s unofficial capital. With some help of her soccer skills she managed to get a scholarship in New York, where she’s currently studying maths & physics. Apart from a sporty talent she also possesses a musical talent. Her To Whom It May Concern EP (clever title by the way) is out now, and catchy lead single Rockstar City captures her style and lyricism the best.. Rockstar City tells the universal story of somebody starting out, exploring new trails and walking on unknown grounds. These expeditions can lead to discovering a new group of soon-to-be friends, meeting new people or in Alex’s case, her very first time playing in a new city, still a little uncertain if the audience will like her just as much as they do back home. Her advice? Jump into the fog, open up, drop your guard a little and as the main character in the video does, shed some skin to reveal your true self. Our advice? Open up a little to Alex and her songs, their true meaning might surprise you… oh and if you’re in Australia, go and see her live of course, she´s supporting Dustin Tebbutt & Lisa Mitchell in June. Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] The Byzantines - Top Boy

You might not be aware of the fact, but South Australia has a long heritage of migration. Offering warm summers and mild winters with over 300 days of sunshine per year we fully understand why you would move to for example... the city of Adelaide. Being proud of their variety of backgrounds, the city even has a migration museum to discover and enjoy all the stories behind its multicultural inhabitants. 

If we had to guess where The Byzantines were originally from, then we’d most likely say England based on their musical spectrum and appearance. Even their band shirts look like they are straight out of the latest Fred Perry spring/summer collection. And if you’d ask about their favourite football club, they would probably answer with Leicester City FC or Manchester City.  The Byzantines may look and sound like an utmost British band, but have a glance at their last names (Pietrafesa, Zammit, Moucho & Zervas) and you realize their forefathers must have lived scattered across Europe as well. Nevertheless the quartet is not afraid to mention the classic britpop roots among their influences, but for lead single Top Boy we also hear some Black Keys riffs phasing through the chorus. We’re not the first to say they are the Australian answer to Kasabian, but it’s hard not to see the similarities. Is it possible to have too many Kasabians in the world though? We don’t think so, so can you feel it coming? Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Ten Tonnes - Silver Heat

Ethan Barnett is making music under the moniker Ten Tonnes, probably to keep your opinion unbiased. “Unbiased you say? But I don’t know Ethan Barnett, is he... maybe related to Courtney?” Nope, but like his big brother George Ezra Barnett, he’s from Hertford. Oh noes, now you’re biased after all... Well, have a listen anyway, as talent runs in the family. Thanks to the BBC Introducing talent programme Ethan felt what it was to be on the stages of Reading & Leeds last year. This year he has some tastemaking festivals ahead of him in the UK like Barn On The Farm, Live At Leeds, and Dot To Dot. And guess who’s played all those festivals in the past? Exactly, his already arrived brother. After getting his first EP called Lucy out on his own, he’s now almost ready for his second coming. Silver Heat is the first taste of his upcoming Born To Lose EP, due June 9 on Warner Music. The track sounds way more powerful than his first batch. Less singer-songwriter, more grown up and possibly the most important result: less like his brother. The vocals wink to the past with hints of The Kooks, and all those other relevant indie bands from the zeroes, but overall it’s fresh enough to keep you interested to listen how the story continues. Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Sigrid - Don’t Kill My Vibe

Like most Scandinavian pop stars Sigrid doesn’t need an addition to make you remember her sound (Aurora, MØ, Robyn, anyone?). But if you really wanna know, her last name’s Raabe and lives in Bergen, Norway. Anyway, she’s just done with playing SXSW where she made some great first impressions. The queues outside were so long people failed to get in. That’s how big her momentum is right now. So get on board before she blows up on a worldwide scale.

If you need more proof of her talent, the acoustic version of this banger proves that Don’t Kill My Vibe is bound to be an enormous hit. But why is it so fantastic? Let’s start with her voice, which has an incredible reach and a vulnerable edge on it the background. Next, her style lives up to the Scandinavian design standard: minimalistic and simple. A plain white shirt, three interchanging backgrounds, and in case of the acoustic version, a simple piano to keep her company. Finally, that gasp after singing ‘I’m young, I don’t care, I don’t quit no no no no’, gives the song its seal of authenticity. 

Enjoy!

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[New Song Of The Week] Equal Idiots - Put My Head In The Ground

In the mood for some crazy catchy punk-pop? Then you’ve come to the right place with Equal Idiots from Antwerp, Belgium. This idiotic duo consists of ginger frontman Thibault Christiaensen and Pieter Bruurs mashing garage rock and modern punk-pop into one fierce mass of energy. After going to the Rock Werchter festival together they decided that they wanted to play those stages and started out as a Vampire Weekend coverband. Things got more serious after ending up in the finals of a national band competition. With heavy support from radio station Studio Brussel and their talent programme, they made it to the biggest stages in Belgium already, including warming up the crowd at the Lotto Arena before a Belgium soccer match during the European Championships last year. Put My Head In The Ground is the follow-up single of Salmon Pink, and reminds us of the the Danish rockers Royal Republic. We’re really curious if their debut album, which will be out ‘soon’ on Caroline Benelux, features a track over 3 minutes. Let’s hope it doesn’t, because we can’t bang our heads for any longer. Enjoy!