| Essential new releases also Wendy Eisenberg, AtticOmatic, Hutch, Committee of Sleep, Group A.D. and Vehicle. | 
Lime Garden by Steve Gullick | Words: Grace Palmer, Isabel Kilevold, Hazel Blacher, Eva Karl, Marty Hill, A. L. Noonan, Brad Sked |
| | Ahead of their second album 'Maybe Not Tonight', set for release on 10th April via So Young Records, Brighton four-piece Lime Garden return with their most hypnotic single to date. Channelling a Courtney Barnett existentialism over a Happy Mondays-inspired bassline, '23' is an homage to those inescapable mid-twenties anxieties. The introduction's looping, grungy synth and cathartic call to "fucking let loose" capture the adrenaline rush of a night out. Upbeat and energetic, the track's rhythm urges listeners to embrace the reckless abandon of the dancefloor. Yet Chloe Howard's paradoxical lyricism and Annabel Whittle's propulsive drums reveal '23' as less a club anthem and more a reflection on ageing. Lyrics like "I can feel myself getting overgrown" speak to a generation navigating the turbulence of early adulthood. Balancing the urgency of now against the unease of change, '23' encapsulates the bittersweet acceptance that nothing ever stays the same. (Grace Palmer) | | Pulsing with the skin-close tension of desire and distance, the latest release from Cork five-piece Cardinals retains a crushing honesty, refusing to let affection slip into vulnerability. Euan Manning's raw vocals cut through the air, while his brother Finn's intimate accordion weaves the melody, crafting an interplay of unguarded confession. 'I Like You' is the fifth and final single ahead of their debut album 'Masquerade', set for release on 13 February via So Young Records. The percussion throbs with a restless heartbeat, mirroring the emotional unease at the song's core. Lines land with cutting clarity: "And you can have most of me / Just don't stand so close to me / 'Cause what will you have when I'm gone?" Delivered with restraint, the lyrics capture the paradox of intimacy mixed with emotional withdrawal—liking someone deeply while deliberately refusing full commitment. Beneath the reserve, the song carries the quiet ache of proximity without permission; closeness is felt but deliberately kept just out of reach. Distorted guitar lines add visceral grit, contrasting the softness of the accordion-driven melody, as Cardinals continue to weave folk confession, post-punk abrasion, and a gothic atmosphere of romance and gloom into their sharp indie-rock sound. (Isabel Kilevold) | | Wendy Eisenberg – 'Meaning Business' | | Baked in lush retro production with a timeless folk pop warmth that wouldn't be out of place amongst The Roches anthology, 'Meaning Business' is the gorgeous new single from Brooklyn based artist Wendy Eisenberg. Galvanised by dynamic ascension, the track sweeps flawlessly from coolly ruminative into cinematically epic, sumptuous violins and emphatic guitars blossoming and recoiling like flora rooted in rich, virtuosic soil. 'Meaning Business' arrives alongside an announcement of Eisenberg's upcoming self titled album, due for release in April via Joyful Noise Recordings. Written as an ode to filmmaker David Lynch, allegorising trauma recovery through the lens of his filmography, specifically the Twin Peaks universe, Wendy elaborates: "Recovery from the trauma of that particular horror is a hallucinatory and psychedelic process because you're reckoning with true horror – basically, the thesis of the Twin Peaks universe. This song sees me trying to find the little kid who I was, who endured that horror, and ultimately trying to free her from being trapped in that memory." (Hazel Blacher) | | New single 'Burrow' sees Brighton's AtticOmatic turn inwards. Capturing the overwhelming feeling of the present whilst maintaining the repetitions of pushing through the everyday, the song's initial gentle acoustic feel gives way when Kamran Kaur first mentions going 'back to the burrow'. Here, the heaviness kicks in, lending a greater momentum to the sound of this retreat to earth. Recalling the grunginess of bands like Nirvana, as well as more contemporary bands such as Alaskalaska, the unease AtticOmatic create in this song sits somewhere between acceptance and dread, ambivalence and pain. 'Burrow' serves as the first single from the quintet's upcoming sophomore EP, 'Between Two', due for release on the 20th March. (Eva Karl) | | Those feeling the crushing, oppressive weight of January malaise will find a much-needed tonic in 'Mrs Sunshine', the aptly named new single from psychedelic twang pop aficionados Hutch. The Brighton quartet's new single arrives after a year-long break making music and "finding good things in an ever troubling world", and it sees Hutch doing what they do best: laying down bloody good, twangy hooks that make you feel really warm and fuzzy inside. It feels like no accident that psych bands are fewer and further between in the UK in 2026. A genre inherently tied to openness and letting go, psych music's very core runs counter to our hyper-online world – one that feels increasingly unable to express itself freely without fear of scrutiny or surveillance. That's why a band like Hutch feels like a breath of fresh air; a liberal, unfettering invitation to stick out your tongue and let the lysergic iridescence set in, as the heat fizzes into your factor 50 and the promise of a long, halcyon summer stretches out with gay abandon. (Hazel Blacher) | | Committee of Sleep – 'Desire Lines' | | It can be really telling when new bands feel pressure to force idiosyncrasies into their music. Often, for new acts to justify the "experimental" tag they are running with in their press material, mindless noise sections, meta references or slowbuild intros that add nothing other than time to the song are overambitiously shoehorned in. The more we hear from Committee of Sleep, the clearer it becomes that they are the complete antidote to that. There's clearly some leftfield quirks hardwired into the Northern group, but you get the sense that all they really want to do is write great pop songs. With its Surfer Rosa-era Pixies guitar work set against a slacker-rock delivery, 'Desire Lines' is certainly evidence of that. The firm grasp on melody that caught our attention when the band released 'The Planet of Chocolate Bars' at the end of last year is still prevalent but here we're seeing the band embrace a brand of noisy lofi pop that The Jesus and Mary Chain would be proud of. It's another really attention-demanding single. (Marty Hill) | | Group A.D. – 'Colour Space Transformation' | | The notion of describing music as cinematic can be a wooly topic. Typically, this description is linked to the use of sweeping string sections that hark back to the golden age of Hollywood soundtracks, where money was abundant and orchestras could be budgeted for. But this still feels reductive. In many ways, music that holds a cinematic quality is broad, expansive, narrative and essentially timeless. On their latest single, 'Colour Space Transform', Group A.D. meld the cinematic with the musical through a vast composition of tasteful sampling and a maximalist outlook. Mysterious strings blanket over shuffling lounge drumming while a narrator muses on top: 'There is no greater frontier than the one in the rear view mirror.' These ideals of 'looking back to move forward' flow effortlessly through the track. Tremolo baritone guitar strikes à la Ennio Morricone and spatial 80s dancefloor synths create a patchwork of 20th century stylings, knitting together to create something wholly new. As invigorating as it is nostalgic, on 'Colour Space Transform,' Group A.D. open up a new sonic frontier that very few others are willing to traverse. (A. L. Noonan) | | Vehicle – 'You Are Not A Cowboy' | | A short and sweet garage rock-n'-roll thrill ride, Vehicle's 'You Are Not A Cowboy', makes for a tinnie-spilling spectacle, built to withstand whirling mosh-pits inside sweatbox venues far and wide. The Leeds quartet's latest offering is a jangled, snot-filled fuzz frenzy, whipping up a sonic stew of influences recalling Black Lips, Night Beats and Jacuzzi Boys – a glorious, warming caldron of garage goodness. With a whole host of new outfits from the British isles leaning towards more psych-garage stylings, fans of the more psychotropic are eating well, right now. May the renaissance long continue. Vehicle will also be taking their fun-filled garage-rock riot to a number of venues across the country very soon, including the Sebright Arms on the 28th January. (Brad Sked) | | | | |
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