Further Listening: The Mountain Goats, Lunch Ladies, Manuela, Will Stratton, Nadia Reid, Flecha Moon & The Confused, Holly Macve, The Vultures, Stay South, Demolition Means Progress, J.Bruno, Hiccup, Pet Crow, Gurr, Emma Gatrill, Fascinations Grand Chorus, The Glass Child, False Advertising, Fast Romantics, Slingshot Dakota, Family Friends, The Dears, Gabriella Cohen, Diet Cig, Jason McNiff, Madam West, Lucky Shrivers, Laura Marling, Lauren Ruth Ward, Ian William Craig, Tom Adams, Bad Sea, Los Campesinos! and the title track from the upcoming Hurray For The Riff Raff album, The Navigator.

5. Kraków Loves Adana Show Some Youthful Exuberance

Slightly daft name aside, there’s an awful lot to admire about Hamburg’s Kraków Loves Adana, the pseudonym of singer Deniz Cicek, who is set to release her third album, Call Yourself New, next month via Better Call Rob. This week ahead of that release, Deniz has shared her new single, Youth Unbroken.

Youth Unbroken is a beautiful slice of piano-led alt-pop, there’s a touch of The National about the bright, yet somehow gloomy chord progression, while Deniz’s vocal is pitched somewhere between Sharon Van Etten and Nancy Sinatra. Discussing the inspiration behind the track Deniz has suggested this track is designed to, “heal old wounds, make peace with your past – you are not broken”. We couldn’t comment on whether it’s successfully healing her past, but Youth Unbroken hints at a very bright future.

Call Yourself New is out March 24th via Better Call Rob. Click HERE for more information about Kraków Loves Adana.

4. Even Girl Ray Do Stupid Things

Girl Ray have come a long way from the slightly awkward teens we first saw in the back room of the Victoria in Dalston. Now having successfully finished their A-levels, the band have signed to Moshi Moshi, been regularly played on almost every show on 6 Music, and lined up high-profile sets at pretty much every festival worth attending this summer. 2017 might just be the year they take over the musical landscape – starting with releasing a stunning new single, Stupid Things.

Stupid Things is something of a musical curve ball from Girl Ray’s previous largely guitar led explorations. Here we find the main melody being played out on a piano, with more than a touch of Randy Newman about it, as rolling bass-lines and fluttering drums propel the track along, beneath the always impeccable vocal-harmonies. Lyrically it’s an exploration of obsession and its ability to make us do stupid things, as singer Poppy explains, “It’s about crushing really hard on someone, and finding myself doing fucking ridiculous things to feel like we’ve got some kind of connection. Watching films that they mentioned fleetingly or ordering their favourite drink at a bar. Very stupid but happens every single time”. Talking of obsession, can we have an album soon please, about time we moved on from listening to the handful of Girl Ray singles currently available on a near-constant loop. 

Stupid Things is out now via Moshi Moshi. Girl Ray are currently on tour with Teleman, they play a headline show at The Lexington May 23rd, and nearly all the good festivals this summer – click HERE for more details.

3. Don’t Try This On Your Porch

We’re long-term fans of Dignan Porch round these parts, but somehow the fact everyone who hears them seems to love them hasn’t, as yet, transferred into any great hype or commercial success. Thankfully this travesty hasn’t stopped them producing some delightfully melodic noise-pop; this looks like continuing into 2017 with this week’s news that they’re planning to release three EP’s this year on the Plastic Stuff label.

Dignan Porch have shared the first taste of their new material, via the single, and EP title track, Don’t Try It. In many ways it is classic Dignan Porch; coating what is essentially a deeply melodic pop song in a fuzzy blanket of re-assuring noise, and throwing a ludicrously bombastic finale on the end, it pretty much begs for repeat listens. Roll on the acclaim, record sales and hopefully lots more wonderful music from some of South London’s most talented noise-makers.

Don’t Try It EP is out March 6th via Plastic Stuff. Click HERE for more information about Dignan Porch.

2. Don’t Cry For The Haters

One of the year’s most exciting new groups, Malmo’s Hater have been gradually sharing snapshots of their upcoming album You Tried, which is out next month on PNKSLM Recordings. This week they’ve shared quite possibly their most exciting track yet, in the shape of the record’s third, and final, single Cry Later.

Yet another band from Sweden who know their way around a dreamy-pop song, Cry Later is a fine example of what Hater are all about. There’s the steady tick of drums that bring to mind Real Estate, and the slightly off-kilter guitars that add just the right amount of messy energy. Of course, at the front of everything is singer Caroline Landahl’s stunningly nonchalant vocal; like Nico or Cate Le Bon, Caroline seems capable of transmitting great emotion, whilst simultaneously sounding like she might well have recorded the entire take without getting out of bed. Effortless sounding pop-perfection, something so ludicrously difficult to pull off, yet so sublime when it works.

You Tried is out March 10th via PNKSLM Recordings. Click HERE for more information about Hater.

1. Nevermine The Lazars

Hailing from the suburbs of Atlanta, and still looking impossibly young, Caroline Lazar first started playing music at the age of four! Caroline learnt the piano from a teacher who would paint her fingernails to correspond with the keys, upon joining high school she became the only girl who played saxophone and promptly outshone all the boys. Via her first heartbreak, the novels of Sylvia Plath, University in Miami, two cups of black coffee every morning and avocado on toast every lunch time – Caroline ditched the classical saxophone and started writing songs. A decision that’s set to be fully justified by her upcoming debut EP, Nevermine, out next month via My Little Empire Records.

Ahead of that release, Caroline has this week shared the title track, Nevermine. A gorgeously minimal piece of music, there’s barely an instrument on it for a minute, just Caroline’s soaring lead vocal, accompanied by waves of sweet, choral backing. It builds to a gorgeously impassioned crescendo, reminiscent of Magana or Torres; Caroline’s vocal soaring and crackling with very raw, human emotions, before the whole track collapses down to barely nothing once more. The sort of song that’s infuriating, but only because you cannot wait to hear more, put simply it’s wonderful.

Nevermine EP is out March 24th via My Little Empire Records. Click HERE for more information on Caroline Lazar.