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Our roundup of essential new singles also featuring The Homesick, abracadabra and Jordan Patterson. |
| Ebbb by Holly Whitaker | Words: Hazel Blacher, Marty Hill, Grace Palmer, Brad Sked |
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Recalling the genre-splicing maximalism of their earliest singles, now haloed by softened production and newly ascendant club rhythms, Ebbb’s latest single ‘Side On’ is an invigorating odyssey that gleams and soars with euphoric propulsion. A spiralling harmonic ambience intertwines with intricate drum & bass beats, while twinkling additional sonic details dance through the mix like an aurora, all bound together by lead singer Will Rowland’s pristine vocal line. Serving as the final teaser from their anticipated debut album ‘Shallow Hits’ – due for release on the 10th July via Ninja Tune – ‘Side On’ is perhaps one of the most thrilling singles yet from the campaign, offering an exciting taste of what’s to come. “Our idea was to contrast the standing piano chords and direct vocal melody with really propulsive, busy drums.” The band explain. “It’s a song about living life ‘side on’ and so never really filling your potential”. (Hazel Blacher) |
Holly Head – ‘I’ve Had Want’ |
On their brilliant fourth single, Manchester four piece Holly Head offer a much lighter touch. While the band’s exhilarating live set is built on beautiful contrasts of full-throttle political angst and shimmering tender relents, this is the first time we’ve seen them commit one of those more delicate cuts to record. Frontman Joe Moss told us that he was teaching himself to write from a “more vulnerable point of view, rather than an aggressive one” last November, and this certainly feels like an example of that. Inequality is still the dominant theme but the range of emotions is much broader, as is the diversity of sonic influences. Tasteful trip hop cascades, intricately distorted guitar work and a much more pop-curious melodic sway combine to wrongfoot anybody who had Holly Head pigeonholed as an angry post-punk band. ‘I’ve Had Want’ opens up a world of possibilities as to where one of the most exciting bands in the country could venture next. (Marty Hill) |
How do you show empathy towards someone who has hurt you, especially when you’ve also hurt people in the same way? London four-piece Speedial explore this timeless question with their latest single, ‘Perfume’. Initially released as the A side of their limited-run 7” vinyl that accompanied their Windmill performance last month, ‘Perfume’ is a complex track blending jazz rhythms, discordant vocals and unpredictable noise. The song opens with Monarch Vavrechka’s mystical saxophone melody, complemented by the ethereal dual vocals of Serena Garrod and Millie Kirby. Moving from tender moments to chaotic bursts of instrumentation, ‘Perfume’ captures the tension between volatility and suppression that arises when, as Garrod puts it, “you can’t simply be angry at the person because you know exactly where they’re at.” With lyrics like “never satiated, perfume ever nauseated” and “despite the memories, they cheapen for me”, Speedial doesn’t provide a straightforward answer to this timeless question. Instead, they craft a melancholic lullaby filled with empathy, heartache, understanding and anger. (Grace Palmer) |
The Homesick – ‘Policelessness’ |
With World Cup fever officially in full flow and coursing through the veins, Dutch trio The Homesick’s groove-heavy new delight ‘Policelessness’ feels like it could have been plucked straight from the FIFA and PES soundtrack. A ravey, synth-laden space-pop number that gloriously serpentines between the experimental-pop influence of Animal Collective and the genre-bending intergalactic funk of L’eclair or fellow Dutch outfit The Mauskovic Dance Band, ‘Policelessness’ is a cosmic folly for cocktail parties with extraterrestrial beings. In the never-ending gloom-glazed news cycle, The Homesick are delivering a much-needed injection of fun into our lives. Alongside the balmy banger, The Homesick have also shared news of their fourth full-length record in ‘What’s Up With All These Shangri-Las?’, set for release 18th September. (Brad Sked) |
abracadabra – ‘face card’ |
Fans of Tom Tom Club, assemble! abracadabra’s ‘face card’ might just be the ‘Wordy Rappinghood’ of the 2020s – time to backcomb those locks and iron your oversized blazer so that the shoulders are nice and pointy. Returning with their first single since 2023 album ‘shapes & colours’, the Oakland based Melodic signees explore sparse, 80s inspired new wave and synth pop textures, an angular bass groove underpinning intervallic, off-kilter percussion and lead vocalist Hannah Skelton’s hooky, deadpan vocal melodies. “‘face card’ asks the question: do you really think you earned all you’ve got by yourself, and that you should keep it all for yourself?” Skelton explains, regarding the themes of the track. “What if those of us who received such fateful benevolence schemed about a way to bring it to a larger scale? Let’s grow a lush world together.” ‘face card’ is the first single from the duo’s upcoming EP ‘peel away’, due for release on the 7th August. (Hazel Blacher) |
Jordan Patterson – ‘Cinderella’ |
Emerging as one of the most intriguing new voices in alternative-folk, North Carolina-born, California-based singer-songwriter Jordan Patterson has released evocative and emotionally candid new single ‘Cinderella’ this week via Secretly Canadian. Rich and rugged like the calming, craggy knobbles of an old tree trunk, Patterson’s breathtakingly unique vocal timbre flourishes atop a slowly blossoming flora of folk instrumentation, rosy petals of piano and strings unfurling towards the sunlight by the track’s closing moments. ‘Cinderella’ serves as the final single from new EP ‘Songs From A Valley Girl’, lyrically touching on the dizzying emotional consequences of a broken down relationship in a manner that courses with life and vulnerability. (Hazel Blacher) |
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