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Essential new singles from the past fortnight, also featuring Gnoomes, Lover1k, Cyn Cwsg, BUFFEE and Troutflies. |
| Fontaines D.C. by Elizaveta Porodina | Words: Eloise Applebaum, Hazel Blacher, Elvis Thirlwell, Brad Sked, Lloyd Bolton |
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Fontaines D.C. – ‘Marianne’ |
Fontaines D.C. have made an unforeseen return this week, debuting two new singles at their live shows in Spain before announcing their new album, ‘Dopamine Chamber’ – set for release this October – and sharing its first single ‘Marianne’. Rumours are already swirling online of another tour and of the track’s possible thematic nods to Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ – there are even theories that ‘Marianne’ could be part of a larger fictional world that the band have been quietly building. ‘Marianne’ is a sonically seductive track following in the footsteps of ‘Starburster’, the lead single from their 2024 album ‘Romance’. Its icy synths and hypnotic production lure you into a sinister trance, a sense of unease churning beneath its otherwise attractive exterior. The opening chimes lend the song a fairytale quality, as if you were opening an old folklore book in an ancient pub, only to be greeted by the most unsettling illustrations that ensnare you further into Fontaines D.C’s strange and unsettling world. The door has swung wide open and we have been invited into Fontaines D.C’s very own dopamine chamber. The only question is what’s waiting on the other side. (Eloise Applebaum) |
Swathed in the ever-shifting awe of being, from the unyielding bud and wither of the seasons to the soft, liminal pauses where, looking inwards, we stop and catch our breath, L’Rain’s ‘elmyra’ throbs with wonderment and life. On the final teaser from her stunning new album ‘fata morgana’, out now via Mexican Summer, L’Rain – the alias of multi-instrumentalist and producer Taja Cheek – showcases her unique ability to seamlessly marry a rich, expressive emotional language with wonky, winding and boldly complex experimental pop sensibilities. The new record is said to be the culmination of a ‘quadrology’, also comprising her previous albums ‘L’Rain’, ‘Fatigue’ and ‘I Killed Your Dog’ – overall, it’s a gorgeous body of work to cast your ears upon, and ‘elmyra’ is a great place to start. (Hazel Blacher) |
Why Horses? – ‘Yr Big Day’ |
Birthday’s are not everyone’s cup of tea. The attention, the pressure to enjoy it and the yearly alarm bell of aging and mortality can be too much for some. And in the case of whoever is on the receiving end of the lyrics to the new Why Horses? single ‘Yr Big Day’, they really aren’t enjoying their birthday. At all. But maybe that’s the point. Marking their signature with Brace Yourself Records, the Cardiff art-rock outfit’s return “is reminder of what a birthday should be about: a celebration of your life and how amazing it is that you’re still alive”, they say, and also, we say, a maturing evolution from the shambling, nervous psychobilly of 2025 debut EP ‘Yeah, Hi?’. Drifting into higher-plaining slowcore realms, while remaining lyrically rich and decidedly haunting, Why Horses? continue to impress again and again. (Elvis Thirlwell) |
Gnoomes – ‘Shakshuka And Pie’ |
Gnoomes are back with ‘Shakshuka And Pie’ via the ever -wonderful Rocket Recordings imprint. A propulsive, luminous and fuzz-heavy psychotropic whirlpool, ‘Shakshuka And Pie’ coalesces heady-psychedelia, space-rock and shoegaze with sparks of acid-house to induce a trance-like state amidst the mesmeric mind-bending joy-ride. The after-effect of all this is akin to a lightspeed passage through the interstellar plains at such an intensity that the fabric of space-time tears into near infinite pieces, pulling you into a higher dimension among dancing entities who kindly impart a profound wisdom lost by generations before promptly returning us to the mortal plain. Fans of Spacemen 3 and Moon Duo will be right at home here. Alongside the new single, the now Slovenia-based outfit have also shared a video to ‘Shakshuka And Pie’ that’s a fittingly technicoloured fever dream. (Brad Sked) |
The second single from London duo DJ Alice Roberts and Lev Ceylan (the latter also a member of Ebbb and Butch Kassidy) is a bit of a heater. It’s a Y2K-all-day, reggaeton-pulsing, wub-wub basslining, hyper-popping steam-roller of a tune with a very catchy (and righteously pissed off) vocal. It’s an unashamed attempt to make a track that does as much as possible and goes as hard as possible in under 3 minutes, designed to drop whenever the party is at its peak. The follow-up to mellower February debut single ‘liiiiights’ (double checks there’s the right amount of ‘i’s) – released via dance/indie label Underplay Recordings (Bathing Suits, KuleeAngee) – ‘On My Own’ sees Lover1k well and truly nail their club-banger credentials to the mast. (Elvis Thirlwell) |
Being proudly Welsh is so freaking hot right now, and Cardiff’s Cyn Cwsg (pronounced ‘Kin Koosk’ for any non-Welsh speaking readers) are one of many exciting new young bands flying the dragon-adorned flag into new music spheres. The rising quintet have just unleashed their new single ‘Mobius’, a charming indie-rock jaunt bathed in jagged guitars and a carefree swagger that has an instant likeability and catchiness. Speaking on the themes of the new track, the band state: “A juxtaposition of the mind and something too complex to comprehend (a bit like your brain). A concept of projectile madness echoed through guitar tones and mental drumming. Also just a song about the möbius strip.” (Hazel Blacher) |
BUFFEE – ‘Robbed by a Strawberry’ |
Those already well versed in the Manchester underground scene’s proliferation of electronic sorcery of late may well be familiar with BUFFEE, an artist who caught our attention a while back with her impressive live sets and earlier releases via tastemaker label Spinny Nights. Returning with a string of singles leading up to her new EP ‘I Burnt The Voice Coil’ – out later this month via Illegal Data – the latest teaser ‘Robbed by a Strawberry’ is a stupefying slice of electro-experimentalism that sucks you in like a current. Suffusing the compositional expansiveness of artists shaping the more avant-garde spheres of alt-pop with an introverted feel and authentically DIY spirit, ‘Robbed by a Strawberry’ is an endlessly rewarding and dynamic listen. (Hazel Blacher) |
Determinedly lo-fi duo Troutflies return with new single ‘Pugh’ as they announce second album, ‘Wild Troutflies’, out this October on Private Regcords. The track opens with a kind of disembodied jangle feel, the easy strum of acoustic guitar juxtaposed by Reuben Pugh’s heavy drawl and restless associative lyrics. A cough syrup-dreamy quality emerges with enveloping electric keys, stray strains of melodica and overheard lyrics about the bar staff of the heavens. The result restates Troutflies’ capacity to be absorbingly enigmatic while remaining dedicated to the homemade and unpretentious. (Lloyd Bolton) |
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