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Essential new singles also including Hush, Ignoring Izzy, Myer U Clark and Leah Senior. |
| THEATRE by William McCloughlin |
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A shoegaze-inspired haze converges with distorted rock as Irish band THEATRE announce their signing to BMG / Echo, with the release of their debut single ‘The Fall’. Over a tightly wound rhythm section, jagged guitars and a driven bass line blur into melodic dissonance. Beneath it, the band’s intricate sound anchors Maeve O’Shea’s ethereal vocals, floating above a fog of interlocking textures. The Limerick five-piece create an atmosphere steeped in tension yet strangely inviting. The track moves between delicate arrangements and distorted outbursts, led by hazy guitar layers and pulsing percussion. The soft vocals swell into an intense strain on the chorus, as the lines “When I think of it all / How I gave it all / Now I, I’ve seen the fall / And I gave you up” lend the track an eerie, almost haunting presence, tracing the torment of loving someone toxic. ‘The Fall’ finds THEATRE at the collision of shadow and shimmer, crafting a sound that is seductive in a way that feels subconscious. (Isabel Kilevold) |
The new single from Dublin trio Bucket is quite the hellraiser. Slotting into that very in vogue noise-rock sound that’s being squalled out by a fair few alt bands from the Emerald Isle, Bucket might be among the most gut-shreddingly intense of the lot. Travelling via a Bauhaus-like 80s goth-rock ghoulishness, a song that already kicks off at about an 8/10 intensity not only ratchets up to about a 9.2 intensity as it progresses (a 10 intensity = you die btw) but also gets more and more metal. A false ending at two minutes gives way to the sludgiest of motherfucking bass sludge (fuck!), the kind that ripples your clothes and makes you want to cry to ur mommy. Another false ending, and it goes full shit-your-pants stoner doom. Pack your things, Bucket are dragging you into the underworld and you’re getting torched alive and scolded for your sins. And while you’re there, make a note that their new EP, ‘Mosaic’ lands 29th April, and, if your flesh survives, Londoners can catch them at Sebright Arms a couple days before. (Elvis Thirlwell) |
Fizzing with the energy and ambition of peak-form Ty Segall, Pyncher announce their arrival on Heist or Hit with their most compelling cut yet. ‘One Day’ finds the Manchester band accelerating the garage rock textures that underpin their sound to create something immediate and deeply infectious. Sam Blakeley ruminates on growing apart and growing up in his distinctive haywire way atop some enthrallingly fuzzy guitar work (including a solo played through a broken pedal) and a surging rhythm. The band’s 2025 debut EP ‘Every Town Needs a Stranger’ was dense with big ideas, here it feels like they’ve shedded some of the more complex thinking behind those songs and have come out the other side with a white-hot and joyously melodic track. (Marty Hill) |
Wake up babe new gorgeous psychedelic dream-pop just dropped. In the form of Montreal trio Hush. Difficult to find on search engines, but oh so heavenly and sublime once you do, Hush tap into that rewarding and quintessentially modern neo-psych line-up combo of ethereal female vocalist (typically with fringe) and at least one male guitarist with a scruffy beard. (Think Sugar Candy Mountain, Pearl & The Oysters – Melody’s Echo Chamber sort of counts with Kevin Parker producing). Sitting on a par with any of them, latest single ‘Funhouse’ is their quirkiest, most off-kilter cut thus far, with dotted guitar-lines and structural tangents bringing together an eeriely fun trip-hop techno-colour sprawl; or, in their words, “a theatrically messy interpretation of romance – a sequel to love learned.” It’s also the third and final single to be taken from their debut album Phasing, due for release on 22nd May via Simone records. We will be listening. (Elvis Thirlwell) |
Ignoring Izzy – ‘Motorway Musk’ |
Tossing and turning in a feverish stew of frenzied twilight zone seduction, Ignoring Izzy’s ‘Motorway Musk’ exorcises every inhibition in pursuit of the dancefloor/barn/saloon bar’s most hedonistic indulgences. On the new single from the enigmatic London newcomers, a skittish psychobilly turbulence entangles with jazzy post-punk sophistication, finished with rich, smouldering lead vocals that swirl around the track’s roguish instrumentals like perfect smoke rings. Channelling the unbridled spirit of Windmill-bands-gone-by – black midi, Fat Dog, Maruja to name a few – ‘Motorway Musk’ retains the DIY charm that many bands emerging through the grassroots lose as hot-shot producer budgets swell. To put it simply, this track is fun as fuck, and if you’re a muso with a penchant for leaping about in dark, sticky rooms then Christmas just came early. Hold my beer, I’m entering the twilight zone. (Hazel Blacher) |
With an unseen hook and an invisible line, two threads intertwine, uncertain of their future yet bound, nonetheless. Indie folk/songwriter Myer U Clark’s latest release via Broadside Hacks captures the ambiguity of infatuation, imbued with its charms, doubts, and comforts. ‘Healers’, filled with U Clark’s signature fingerpicking and sliding acoustic melodies, is an unconventional love song. Bearing his soul with the stark realisation that “I can’t promise I won’t be back’, U Clark tugs back and forth between staying and leaving. As the track builds in instrumentation, combining distant drumlines and pianos, so too does the reconciliation that there may be something worth holding onto in this relationship. Concluding with James Cann’s soaring electric riff, ‘Healers’ takes its leap into the precipice, embracing the “long way around”. ‘Healers’ is the second release from Myer U Clark ahead of his album ‘Tinderbox’, due 26th June. (Grace Palmer) |
Leah Senior – ‘Mothersong’ |
A token of sun-kissed goodness from the gods themselves, Australian psychedelic-folk cosmonaut Leah Senior has returned with another empyrean enchantment ‘Mothersong’, released ahead of their fifth album ‘Pt. Roadknight’. Possessing a Wicker Man-esque folly, ‘Mothersong’ makes you feel as if you’re gamboling in the pasturelands, paying gratitude to the forest spirits. A joyous marvel, here Senior coalesces Vashti Bunyan’s folk stylings with the honeyed baroque-pop of Margo Guryan, making for a truly lovely track perfect for florid spring days. Leah Senior explains: “Mothersong was written as a blessing for my friend who was feeling anxious about transitioning into motherhood. I feel like there aren’t enough rockin’ folk songs about motherhood.”. ‘Pt. Roadnight’ is set for release on the 19th June via Third Eye Stimuli. (Brad Sked) |
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